Kanye West seems to have gotten back to business as usual, stirring up even more controversy with his first post to Instagram since making his return to the platform.
Ye took to his Instagram Stories just after midnight on Sunday (December 24), sharing a single black and white photo. While some might miss the messaging in the post, the picture shared features a young model wearing a t-shirt featuring the cover to Vultures, West’s upcoming collab with Ty Dolla $ign.
The Story appears to have been a screenshot of a post made by controversial Russian fashion designer Gosha Rubchinskiy, who landed West in hot water earlier this month, when it was announced he would be joining Yeezy as the company’s new Head of Design.
The photo remains the only bit of content to have been shared to Ye’s IG page since he quietly reactivated his account on December 17.
Kanye West posts his first Instagram Story after deactivating his account back in Aprilhttps://t.co/3Yh0bOWXIApic.twitter.com/XIVZtssQXz
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) December 24, 2023
Just days prior to his reappearance on the popular photo sharing site, the embattled musician resurfaced on Twitter to announce Rubchinskiy’s addition to the Yeezy team.
A statement read: “YEEZY welcomes Gosha Rubchinskiy as its new Head of Design today. The arrival of this legendary Russian designer at YEEZY, the pre-eminent brand in music and fashion, is a milestone in design history.”
Ye’s tweet included a link to his news platform Yews, which launched December 12. It was his first post in over a year following his suspension from the platform over a swastika post.
Rubchinskiy issued a statement of his own, sharing his excitement about growing his own brand through his partnership with West after years of working at Comme Des Garcon.
The 39-year-old is seemingly responsible for designing the merch and controversial cover art for Vultures. The cover has been criticized for having links to Nazism, namely its use of an artwork by German painter Caspar David Friedrich, who was a favorite artist of Hitler.
The cover also features typeface reminiscent of that used by neo-Nazi metal band Burzum.
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Rubchinskiy, once one of the most acclaimed fashion designers in the world, has also faced his fair share of controversy after being accused of soliciting naked pictures from a 16-year-old boy in 2018.
Rubchinskiy denied the accusations and claimed screenshots of the messages had been doctored to make him look bad.
