Rock star Jack White on Friday posted a lengthy message on Instagram that mocked Elon Musk for recently defending Kanye West only for the rapper to be suspended from Twitter again for posting a controversial image.
"So Elon, how's that 'free speech' thing working out?" White wrote.
White was among the many celebrities who abandoned Twitter in the days following Musk's acquisition of the social media platform. In a November 20 message on Instagram, White stated he was deleting his Twitter account due to Musk allowing former President Donald Trump to return; a decision that White called "absolutely disgusting."
On Thursday, West—who legally changed his name to Ye last year—was a guest on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars program. During his appearance, which also included Holocaust denier and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, West said he "liked" Adolf Hitler and claimed the genocidal Nazi regime did "good things, too." Later the same day, the rapper posted an image on Twitter that showed a swastika inside a Star of David. The post was blocked by Twitter for a violation of its policies, and Musk said West's account would be suspended as a result.
West only returned to Twitter last month after he was previously suspended in October for posting antisemitic remarks.
The social media platform locked the rapper's account on October 10 after he posted: "I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE." In the weeks since, the star has made numerous negative comments about the Jewish community.
"Oh, I see, so you have to CHOOSE who gets free speech and who doesn't then? What kind of crybaby liberal suspends someone's free speech?" White wrote in his Friday message.
White continued: "Conspiracy liar alex jones doesn't get 'free speech' either? I see. So you're learning that these folks incite violence and hatred but trump...DOESN'T?"
"Or is it that liar jones, and anti-Semite egomaniac kanye can't provide tax breaks for billionaires the way the former president could?" White wrote. "Or that maybe the controller of this 'free speech' is insulted personally? Or that just maybe, there needs to be, oh I don't know, RULES and REGULATIONS or else you breed chaos?"
At the end of his Instagram post, White said he had disabled comments for the post because "[t]his isn't a debate forum. This is me talking on my front porch, not debating in town square. I regulate the platforms I control too. Do the right thing Elon and don't provide other hate mongers a stage, let them go talk in town square. (And no, twitter isn't town square owned by the govt., it's a private company owned by Elon Musk.)"
Newsweek reached out to White and Musk for comment.
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