New Twitter owner Elon Musk has claimed the social media platform restored Kanye West’s account before he finalised his acquisition of the company.
Earlier this month the US rapper, who has legally changed his name to Ye, was locked out of Twitter and Instagram over antisemitic posts.
Several companies, including Adidas, ended their partnerships with West after the posts, and he dropped off the Forbes billionaire list.
Ye’s account was restored by Twitter before the acquisition. They did not consult with or inform me.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
On Friday, Musk wrote on Twitter that people who have been banned from the social media site will not be reinstated until a review by a “content moderation council”.
A user asked why West’s account had been restored if this was the case.
Musk replied: “Ye’s account was restored by Twitter before the acquisition.
“They did not consult with or inform me.”
Despite Musk’s claims that the rapper’s account has been restored, West has not tweeted since October 9, but he has been active on his Instagram account in recent days.
A spokesman for Meta, the parent company of the social media platforms, said at the time that the rapper had been locked out for posting messages which violated its policies.
The rapper is currently in the process of buying alternative messaging platform Parler.
The site has styled itself as an unbiased platform and has become popular with those banned from Twitter, also hosting prominent US conservative voices.
Following his antisemitic comments on the social media platforms, Adidas said it was ending production of the Yeezy-branded products, a fashion collaboration with West, with “immediate effect”, describing his remarks as “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous”.
The severing of the ties caused West to lose his spot on the Forbes billionaires’ list, as the contract with the German sportswear company accounted for about 1.5 billion dollars (£1.3 billion), according to the US business magazine.
A completed documentary about West has also been shelved and he was dropped by talent agency CAA.
Musk completed his 44 billion dollar (£38 billion) takeover of the social media giant on Friday.
The Tesla boss’ acquisition had caused concern over his support for loosening content moderation and reversing permanent bans on controversial accounts.
Musk’s latest comment about a content moderation council appears to mean no immediate return to Twitter for several high-profile and polarising figures who had been previously banned, including former US president Donald Trump.