Kanye West is Buying The Struggling Social Media Platform Run By Candace Owens’ Husband
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Kanye West is buying Parler, the struggling social media platform run by the husband of Candace Owens, after he was booted from Twitter and Instagram.
The company made the buy public on Monday via their parent company Parlement Technologies. The CEO of Parlement, George Farmer, is the husband of Owens, a Daily Wire host and friend of West.
The app launched in 2018 as a free speech alternative to Twitter. It grew in popularity among supporters of Donald Trump during the 2020 election but struggled to build a significant user base. Then, after it became a hub for violent threats ahead of the Jan. 6 riot, the app was kicked off of Google and threatened with banishment from Apple. The app was allowed back on both stores after pledging more stringent moderation practices.
The details of the purchase have not yet been made public but Parlement Technologies said West has made “a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.”
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” West said in his own statement.
“Ye has become the richest Black man in history through music and apparel and is taking a bold stance against his recent censorship from Big Tech, using his far-reaching talents to further lead the fight to create a truly non-cancelable environment,” Parler said.
Farmer praised the rapper in an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Monday morning, stating that the app “needs Ye in many ways.”
This announcement comes after weeks of headline-making behavior from West. Both West and Owens were featured at his Paris Fashion Week show wearing “White Lives Matter” t-shirts, causing outrage in the fashion and music industries.
West continued to make waves in a confounding interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson and was eventually locked out of his social media accounts after posting anti-Semitic comments.
