Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, is apparently tired of people using his old moniker.
Today (Feb. 28), the Chicago native went on social media to announce that he was shutting down his profile on the app. In a text exchange with Justin Laboy, he wrote, “I’m closing my Kanye West Instagram account. My name is Ye. No brand or numbers gonna force me to call myself what they want me to still be.”
The original post caption read, “Somebody has Ye as an account. I would like to have my [username], so I can change my account to my legal name. Nobody finna bully nothing. Not no promoters. Not no DSPs. I don’t care. My name is Ye now. [If] you call me Kanye West, then [you’re] calling me out of my name.” Luckily, a representative at Instagram seemingly got in touch with the musician’s team, as revealed in a separate upload to the platform.
Laboy messaged Ye, “Instagram has approved. They just got into the office and called immediately. [I’m] waiting on [the] info they need to make it happen today.”
In 2021, a Los Angeles judge approved Ye’s legal name change request. Notably, his eighth studio album bears the same title.
Earlier this week, Ye slammed Adidas for using his brandmark on “non-approved” Yeezy sneakers. The footwear company announced that it would be releasing a pair of the 350 V2s in the colorway “Steel Grey.”
“Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys. I never made these colorways, I’m not getting paid off of them, and Adidas is suing me,” the rapper explained. “All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T-shirt or the color of my hat, but when y’all see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life, don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing.”