Fact Check: Did Kanye West call Jenna Ortega racist? Tweet debunked

Kanye West, who goes by the name of Ye now, did not tweet about Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega before being banned from the micro-blogging platform.

Rumors about the hip-hop singer stating Jenna Ortega doesn't like black people went viral on December 3, 2022. In reality, a verified Twitter user with the name 'Ye.' (handle @King_Staccz) shared the tweet, causing confusion and leaving fans wondering about Kanye's connection with the actress.

However, the rapper was banned from Twitter on December 2, 2022, over several other controversial tweets.

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What did the alleged Kanye tweet about Jenna Ortega?

Kanye officially changed his name to Ye on October 18, 2021, something he wished to do since 2018. His Twitter name too was Ye.

The infamous Tweet was shared by a user "Ye." with the handle @King_Staccz on December 3, 2022, saying:

"Jenna Ortega doesn't like black people."

Internet users were convinced that it was Kanye who tweeted because he, too, had an account under the name Ye with the handle @kanyewest before it was banned.

Here is the tweet that was shared:

What added to the confusion was that the account 'Ye.' had a verified check and frequently shares tweets related to Kanye West. Here are a few posts shared that have some connection to the rapper:

The Jenna Ortega tweet confused many users, who were left wondering when Jenna Ortega and Kanye met. They shared, retweeted, and commented on the post immediately, and as a result, the post went viral.

However, Kanye's account was banned from Twitter a day before (December 2, 2022) the tweet was shared. The other account was just mimicking the rapper, like the many parody accounts that cropped up after Elon Musk's now-canceled verification subscription scheme.

Here is the account description which clearly shows it is not related to Kanye West.

Image showing the Twitter account details for Ye. (image via Twitter/ @Ye.)

Here is a look at Kanye's suspended account:

Image showing Kanye West's Twitter account (image via Twitter/ @kanyewest)

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Kanye West was banned from Twitter over anti-Semitic and controversial tweets

Ye has been under fire recently for his anti-Semitic tweets and actions. In October 2022, he made some "offensive and conspiratorial" comments about Jewish people in an interview, claiming that they were black people. He then tweeted:

"On JEWISH PEOPLE... The funny thing is I actually can't be Anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew. Also, you guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda."

In another interview, he claimed that the Jewish media "owns the black voice." On December 2, 2022, he had an interview with Alex Jones of InfoWars where he made comments that praised Hitler and went on an anti-Semitic rant. At one point, he stated, "I like Hitler."

He falsely claimed that the Nazis and Hitler were responsible for inventing the microphone and highway systems. He went on to read anti-Jewish jokes about Ben Shapiro and former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On the same day, he shared multiple controversial tweets, including one about his ex-wife Kim Kardashian's alleged affair with Chris Paul, one in defense of Balenciaga (who faced public backlash after a child p*rn advertising campaign), and an image featuring the Star of David with a Swastika embedded at its center. After the public outcry, the rapper's Twitter account was suspended.

Kanye West also had his partnerships with Adidas and Gap canceled, which brought down his net worth from $2 billion to $400 million.