usa news desk: Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has been making controversial statements for years. Over the past few weeks, his latest tirade, laden with antisemitism, triggered the loss of major partnerships and widespread condemnation from Hollywood.

Ye’s problematic comments have gone largely unchecked for years. It was only his latest antisemitic rants, which have been embraced by far-right groups as an excuse to ramp up hate speech, that brought in sweeping economic and social repercussions for the rapper and fashion designer. What took so long for Ye to face real consequences? And what can we learn from the discourse around double standards in hate speech?

Ye’s incendiary speech has spanned years. He said in 2018 that slavery “seemed like a choice.” In October, he debuted sweatshirts that read “White Lives Matter” in large block letters at his Yzy Paris Fashion Week show (and wore it again a few days later to his daughter’s basketball game). A few days after that, he falsely claimed that George Floyd died from a fentanyl overdose, rather than being killed by a police officer.