Once a cultural icon, Kanye West’s Yeezy brand has suffered a dramatic fall from grace. Now, one of the internet’s most passionate fan communities is shutting down in protest. The Yeezys subreddit is going read-only from this point forward.
Why? They say that the Yeezy name is tarnished. They referenced the fact that Yeezy released White Lives Matter and Swastika shirts and said that they don’t want to be a voice for hate. According to the moderator of the Yeezys subreddit, over the next few weeks, they’ll be updating their wiki pages, and then once that is done, all submitted posts will be blocked.
Normally, r/yeezys is a place to discuss Kanye West’s brand and fashion collaborations, mainly the shoes. According to Reddit, the Yeezys subreddit has over 123,000 members, making it in the top 2% of subreddits. The subreddit is known for size guides, legit checks, and sneaker-related content. However, more recently, the moderators have complained about having to moderate more hate posts. The moderators say they are tired of being questioned about every post they block.
According to the moderators, it’s officially gone beyond separating the art from the artist. They say it’s time to pack it up because the hate content outperforms and outnumbers the typical Yeezy content.
“It’s so over,” the comments section reads on “Good Ass Sub”, the last bastion of the pro-Kanye West internet. This subreddit and associated Discord group of over 127,000 “goons” is the last portion of Reddit where you can find information regarding Ye. Fans are struggling with how to separate Kanye West’s groundbreaking artistry from his troubling descent into white nationalism and hate speech, creating an unprecedented crisis within his community.
The traditional Kanye West and Yeezy subreddit communities seem to have moved on from a love for the artist and remain focused on the products. There is a noted lack of discussion on the downfall of Kanye West or his recent activities. One of the top posts on r/Kanye is a picture of Taylor Swift declaring the subreddit an official Taylor Swift subreddit, noting, “We had a good run fellas.” With the Yeezy subreddit going read-only, r/Kanye and r/GoodAssSub are all that’s left of the previously vibrant community supporting Ye.
This is a far cry from the Good Ass Sub subreddit where fans are constantly hoping for a comeback even if they know it isn’t coming. The community also does a good job of highlighting and calling out the artist’s bad behavior. Ye has replied to Good Ass Sub posts on X and posted screenshots of the subreddit before, showing that he does pay attention to the community.
Members of the Good Ass Sub believe in holding Kanye West accountable. It is much like a family in that they see someone they love destroying themselves and want it to stop. This doesn’t stop the community from mourning what once was and enjoying the music they know and love. At the end of the day, you have to accept that it’s okay to be sad that your favorite artist is having an extreme crisis of one form or another, and it’s also okay to be angry that he is espousing heinous and unacceptable views.
Since Ye’s “pivot” to white nationalism, there has been a collective mourning of the artist in the community. Comments like “it’s so over” are mild compared to the criticisms doled out by Ye’s staunchest supporters. There is outright hatred in the community for the likes of Milo Yiannopoulos and Nick Fuentes, members of the white supremacist and alt-right movements that have apparently swayed Ye.
What happened to Kanye West? It started with appearances alongside Candace Owens, the founder of the “Blexit” movement championed by Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. The point of ‘Blexit’ is the black exit from the Democratic Party.
Fast forward to today, and you can see the progression Ye has made to outright white nationalism. In deleted tweets, he has sported swastika t-shirts and shown off an iced-out swastika necklace to show his dedication to the hate symbol further. In a post titled “Oh hell nah” on Good Ass Sub, you can see Ye with his swastika necklace sitting next to self avowed white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Unlike other artists who’ve navigated controversies—like Michael Jackson or R. Kelly—the scale and visibility of Ye’s extremist shift mark an unprecedented public downfall.
What does it mean for the art now that the artist is “fully cooked?” The rumors that Kanye West has been abusing nitrous from a dentist were all but confirmed in a recent audio clip from the artist. Ye raps not only about being a nazi but about abusing nitrous from his dentist. Now, fans are left to distinguish the horrible things an artist is saying from the music they know and love. To many of these fans, it’s not a typical day without listening to classics like “Through the Wire” and “Runaway”.
Kanye West still has 65 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He is undoubtedly one of the most respected artists of our generation. Yet, his hatred has pushed him down a path where even his most enthusiastic supporters can’t follow him. How do you parse the generation-altering hit music with one of the most famous crash-outs in history?
Ye has been open in the past about his struggles with mental illness. One could reasonably suggest that this obsession with nazism is merely a terrible consequence of exacerbated mental illness. Given the artist’s wealth and isolation, it could be years of activity like this from the artist formerly known as Kanye West before he seeks professional help – if he does at all.
While Ye has openly discussed his mental health challenges, it’s critical not to conflate mental illness with extremist beliefs. Countless people live with mental health issues without resorting to harmful ideologies. Ye’s situation highlights how unchecked privilege and untreated illness can tragically intersect.
When it comes to Ye, we can only hope that he receives the help he needs and we can get “the Old Kanye” back some day. It’s also important to accept that that day may never come. However, it’s clear that the artist is losing lifelong fans every day, and for good reason.
At a March 2025 interview with DJ Akademiks, Kanye West wore a black KKK outfit, further showing how unwell the artist continues to be. During the interview, Ye commented that he wanted to go outside in costume but couldn’t without fear of being admitted to a hospital.
There may never be an “Old Kanye” comeback. Yet if this saga shows one thing, fans can evolve, too—holding artists accountable while holding on to the pieces of culture that shaped them.