Predictably unpredictable Kanye West was given a “time out” by Twitter on Wednesday after violating the platform’s terms of service during his latest tweet storm.
The rap star’s account was disabled for 12 hours after he shared the phone number for Forbes editor and chief content officer Randall Lane. “If any of my fans want to call a white supremacist … this is the editor of Forbes,” he wrote.
According to the rules of Twitter: "The first time you violate this policy, we will require you to remove this content. We will also temporarily lock you out of your account before you can Tweet again. If you violate this policy again after your first warning, your account will be permanently suspended."
It was one in a series of tweets Wednesday by West, who has launched a public campaign to get out of his contracts with his music publisher and record label.
“90% of the record contracts on the planet are still on a royalty,” West tweeted. “A standard record deal is a trap to NEVER have you recoup, and there’s all these hidden costs like the ‘distribution fees’ many labels put in their contracts to make even more money off our work without even trying.”
He declared “ALL THE MUSICIANS WILL BE FREE” and called for support from other artists. “Bono can I get a retweet. Love you Paul can I get a retweet love you Drake Kendrick even Taylor … We need you right noooooow.”
West flooded his feed with dozens of pages of his contracts. "I need every lawyer in the world to look at these," he said. The documents included specifics about advance payments for his albums, as well as details about royalties and profit-sharing. He evidently received a $12 million U.S. advance for his 2013 album Yeezus plus royalties of between 14 and 25 percent on sales and streams.
Speaking of streams, West tweeted a video showing him apparently taking a Ye pee on one of his Grammy trophies. "Trust me ... I WONT STOP,” he captioned it.
On Monday, West vowed not to put out any new music until his publisher and record label release him from his contracts. The rap star also demanded apologies from Drake and J. Cole and asked for a meeting with Jay-Z. The rapper said he needs to see “everybody’s contracts at Universal and Sony” because he is “not gonna watch my people be enslaved.”
West added: “I’m putting my life on the line for my people. The music industry and the NBA are modern day slave ships. I’m the new Moses.
"I am the only person who can speak on this because I made multi billions outside of music no musicians make billions inside of music I’m going to change this."
West has previously been open about his mental health issues. “If you don’t take medication every day to keep you at a certain state, you have a potential to ramp up and it can take you to a point where you can even end up in the hospital," West explained on an episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. “And you start acting erratic, as TMZ would put it.
West, who was diagnosed as bipolar in 2017, said he becomes delusional during these episodes. “When you’re in this state, you're hyper-paranoid about everything. Everyone ... now is an actor. Everything's a conspiracy," he explained on the show. “You feel the government is putting chips in your head. You feel you’re being recorded. You feel all these things.
“You have this moment [where] you feel everyone wants to kill you. You pretty much don’t trust anyone.”
This summer, West launched a Republican-backed campaign for U.S. president in hopes of helping his friend Donald Trump by taking votes away from Joe Biden. He failed to get his name on ballots in key states.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, click here to find resources.