Billboard—one of the most popular music and entertainment magazines in the United States—was dragged online after declaring rapper and designer Ye as their top gospel artist amid the controversy that erupted after rapper and designer Ye toldInfowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones he liked German Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler.
The magazine's unfortunate timing comes as Ye continues to make headlines for high-profile scandals related to his antisemitism, aggravated further by his praise for a genocidal fascist.
Billboard has since deleted the tweet, which noted Ye "concurrently reigns" as the magazine's "top male artist of the year."
You can see the tweet below.
@billboard/Twitter
Billboard's recognition of Ye—who recently announced a 2024 presidential bid on the Republican ticket—only added fuel to a fire that has raged out of control in the last few days.
Earlier today, billionaire Elon Musk confirmed he suspended Ye's Twitter account after Ye tweeted a swastika entwined with a Star of David.
That controversy came just after Ye stormed out of an interview with far-right YouTuber Tim Pool after receiving slight pushback against his antisemitism amid criticism for accompanying White nationalist Nick Fuentes to a a highly controversial meeting with former Republican President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The ill-timed tweet attracted both scorn and mockery from Twitter users.
\u201cCan something not age well before it\u2019s even put in to the world\u201d— Marcus Gilmer (@Marcus Gilmer) 1669923939
\u201cHis gospel hit \u201cHitler Did Some Good, Lord\u201d was the winner, right?\u201d— Rick Wilson (@Rick Wilson) 1669923344
Billboard tweeting Kanye’s awards on today of all days definitely tops the list of Social Media Scheduled Posting fails.
Really didn’t expect anyone to outdo KFC’s Kristallnacht celebration email, but here we are.
— ¢älv¡n (@CDG_GTR) December 1, 2022
\u201cSometimes, you need a little more context in the report and headlines.\u201d— Austin Bogues (@Austin Bogues) 1669923182
\u201cBillboard magazine was caught up in some bad timing of biblical proportions. https://t.co/b4DgFEWY2d via @HuffPostEnt\u201d— Robert Heikkila (@Robert Heikkila) 1669989367
\u201cTwisted and sick.\n\nBillboard Names Kanye West Top Christian Artist Of 2022 Shortly After He Praised Hitler https://t.co/HnKRlMEOHe\u201d— prettysureitsallover4us (@prettysureitsallover4us) 1669989689
\u201cBoycott Billboard!! https://t.co/DMiu5oN2qp\u201d— Bunny Hollebeke (@Bunny Hollebeke) 1669998610
\u201cwhy billboard is nonsense . \n\nhttps://t.co/15VSzcDhzR\u201d— Ends (@Ends) 1669974541
\u201cKanye and his image of a swastika embedded in the Star of David... and Billboard has him on the gospel charts.\u201d— RaiseYourVoice (@RaiseYourVoice) 1669951303
Billboard's tweet was likely written and scheduled to go live to Twitter before Ye's appearance on Infowars.
The magazine has not commented on the since-deleted tweet, though it did publish a different article reporting Ye's comments about Hitler.and offering a detailed timeline of Ye's erratic and antisemitic behavior to date.
That article notes Ye has only "doubled down" on his antisemitic rhetoric, behavior other publications would likely have disqualified him rather than commemorated him for regardless of his music's success on the charts.