Kanye’s legal team is proposing a controversial defense for the rapper’s “I am a Nazi” and “You ugly as f**k” text messages to a Jewish staffer.
As Page Six reports, in a filing submitted on Wednesday, his legal team creatively defends the messages as “works.” They “plainly reflect [West]’s artistic critique of censorship, identity, and beauty standards, and which were wholly consistent with his public artistry and presentation long before [the former staffer] explicitly sought employment.”
The lawsuit, filed in February by an unnamed former employee, claims the rapper bombarded her with hostile texts in June 2024, including phrases like “Shut the f**k up bitch” and “Hail Hitler.”
The outlet states that in another occasion, when the employee suggested he publicly condemn Nazism amid controversy over the Nazi-inspired cover art for his Vultures Vol. 1. album, West allegedly wrote to her, “I am A NAZI.”
The legal team asserts that the “private communications” are protected by the under the First Amendment.
“[West] is not merely a creator; he is art. Like [19th Century German composer] Richard Wagner’s concept of Gesamtkunstwerk—a ‘total work of art’ integrating music, drama, and stagecraft—[West’s] public and private personas form a continuous, provocative performance that challenges societal taboos surrounding race, religion, gender, power, politics, and censorship. Whether on stage, in the studio, online, or in private communications, [West] is constantly engaged in artistic expression protected by the First Amendment and California’s free speech guarantees.”