Music icon Kanye West called the Black Lives Matter movement “a scam” on Tuesday, just one day after wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt to a Paris Fashion Week presentation alongside commentator Candace Owens.
“Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam now its [sic] over you’re welcome,” wrote West on Instagram. The Black Lives Matter national organization has been plagued by scandal, as various investigations have revealed that its leaders have used donations to enrich themselves, rather than better struggling African-American communities.
A number of state and local BLM chapter have disaffiliated from the national organization in response to the corruption allegations and the parents of several black men killed by police have criticized the organization for fundraising off of their trauma without sharing the resulting donations.
Last year, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, a BLM co-founder, purchased a $1.4 million home in predominately white, upper-class neighborhood. In all, Cullors now owns four U.S. homes worth in excess of $3.2 million.
A New York Times report on BLM’s financial practices this May found that Cullors was “the only voting board member,” in 2020, when the organization raised $90 million but ended the year with only $42 million as a consequence of profligate spending on “smaller organizations,” “consultants,” and “real estate.”
“While such a structure is legal in Delaware, where the group is incorporated, charity experts say it is far from best practices, especially for a group with tens of millions of dollars in its coffers,” observed the Times.
Cullors was not officially paid for her work for the organization, including as executive director, in 2020, but a family member was compensated to the tune of $840,993 for “professional security services” rendered.
West has been criticized for his support of former president Donald Trump, and more recently for his donning of the “White Lives Matter” shirt, which detractors argue represents a kind of grievance politics, as well as a plea for attention.