Streaming platform Twitch bans rapper Kanye West seven minutes into first stream for performing "Nazi salute"

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

On Friday, streaming platform Twitch banned the channel of hip hop artist Kanye West seven minutes into his first stream. The reason for his ban was because he said “Heil Hitler” on his stream and did the Nazi salute. He implored his followers to “wear Swastika’s.”

Afterwards, his channel read, “This channel is temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.”

Although the channel was banned, the video generated millions of views on other social media platforms, such as YouTube.

The incident came one month after West posted a video of himself wearing a diamond-encrusted swastika necklace with known racist Nick Fuentes, whom West referred to as his “white supremacist homeboy.” The two had attended a dinner at US president Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-lago home in 2022, which resulted in backlash.

Earlier, West was quoted on X, saying: “I’m a Nazi. […] I don’t like or trust no Jewish person, and this is completely sober with no Hennessy.” He was also quoted saying: “I’m racist. Stereotypes exist for a reason and they all be true. […] You can get money with Jewish people but they always gonna steal and invite you over to they house on Friday.”

There were calls for Elon Musk to ban West from X, including from David Schwimmer, who starred in the US sitcom Friends. Schwimmer was quoted saying: “We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate-filled, ignorant bile… but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr Musk.”

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