Kanye West, just as famous for argument as creativity, once again struck a match to the powder barrel of public opinion. This time, it was not headline-chasing circus acts or out-of-left-field comments. Instead, West seemed to admit to openly sexually inappropriate behavior, including harassment of women in the workplace and even mocked the Me Too movement in a series of crude and explicit tweets.
West's posts were graphic, disturbing, and painfully casual. In one tweet, he explained how he would embrace women employees in such a way that his groin would buttock against them, his hands hovering just below the small of their backs. "I would give them this hug where I kind of press my c### against the girl's leg and I would put my hands right where I could touch the top of their ass with my pinky or whatever," he wrote as if he were sharing a funny story with the boys instead of admitting to harassment.
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Another tweet said, "I've f### employees in my office," and he later warned himself, in writing, not to hug female employees by the neck unless he wanted to come off "like a f#####." He even bragged, "My hugs be too long for sure." This kind of talk would instantly get most CEOs or public figures discharged or sued. But for West, who has long inhabited his turbocharged orbit.
West directed fire at the Me Too movement, joking, "I broke my me to virginity," calling himself "a walking me too" and treating the serious cultural analysis like some perverse badge of honor. In one of the rant's most insensitive moments, he speculated, "Sometimes I think, Wow, I have a rape allegation Life is funny like that."
Such a level of disinterest and conceit toward the trauma of others sent shockwaves through fans and critics. If mocking the very notion of consent, he continued, "B###### be retracting consent," and maintained that if a woman hadn't accused him of misconduct, "she doesn't know how to get money."
And then, in a final gut punch, he named one of his accusers explicitly: "Lauren Pisciotta. But when do you become angry at the people who put you up to this," No context? No defense. Only an allegation against an accuser in plain sight.
For many, this was no ordinary Kanye meltdown. It felt like a line had been crossed again. But this time, even for those who've long defended him as a misinterpreted genius, a disturbing question overhangs: How far is too far … and has Kanye finally crossed the line?
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