Kanye West: Bob Marley’s granddaughter models during controversial White Lives Matter show in Paris

Bob Marley’s granddaughter Selah Marley, 23, was among the models at Kanye West’s “secret” and controversial Season Nine Yeezy show on Monday (3 October).

The viral fashion show took place at the end of Paris Fashion Week following Kanye West’s (aged 45) debut Balenciaga show over the weekend, but sent shock waves across social media due to the nature of the designs.

Some of the LA based designer’s models including Selah Marley and guest Candice Owens appeared in tops that featured the text “White Lives Matter” mirroring a picture of Pope John Paul II, in response to the 2013 Black Lives Matter movement.

Other models featuring in the exhibit such as Naomi Campbell did not wear the controversial t-shirt.

The initial political and social prospect started after George Zimmerman fatally shot Travyon Martin in order to raise awareness to discrimination and racism in society and protest brutality, but the movement gained momentum following the death of George Floyd in 2020.

However, the phrase “White Lives Matter” is classed as a hate statement, defined by the Anti-Defamation League.

Selah Marley who shared a post while wearing the top, is the daughter of singer and rapper Lauryn Hill with her long-term partner Rohan Marley - the son of the Could You Be Loved singer.

Selah’s appearance in Kanye’s show raised questions as her grandfather Bob Marley was an avid campaigner for the freedom of black people.

The 23-year-old model had previously spoken about wanting to work with Kanye West in 2017 during an interview with Vogue Magazine, as she expressed the rapper was her role model.

She said: “He’s been through a lot of persecution with the media and by people, but it doesn’t stop him from being who he is.

“He is so passionate about everything, and he has you thinking forward to his next move, as he always thinks outside the box.”

Kanye’s next movement was the White Lives Matter show, which began trending on Twitter directly after the show ended.

While Bob Marley was known for fighting for black people’s freedom, viewers of the WLM show took to social media to express their confusion at why Selah was wearing the shirt in light of her archetype.

One account said: “I know that is not Selah in that fawkin shirt…I know that is not Lauryn Hill’s daughter in that God awful shirt.”

While another posted: “I know Kanye West ain’t got Lauryn Hill’s daughter wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ tee.”

In addition to people questioning Selah’s motives for participating in the Yeezy show, other social media users slammed Kanye and Candice Owens.

For example, someone tweeted: “Kanye West’s decision to wear a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt is disgusting, dangerous and irresponsible. Some of y’all rush to defend him. You should ask yourselves why.”

The tweet has now accumulated over 26,000 likes and over 3,000 retweets as people continue to question the “next action” of Kanye West.

At time of writing, ‘Ye’ published a story and post responding to the online criticism for the shirts.

On his story he commented about the reasoning behind his actions stating “everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam, now it’s over, you’re welcome,” while later sharing a screenshot of a conversation with a contact named Mowalola, who could be the Nigerian-born fashion designer.

In the image it shows Mowalola calling the rapper out on his choice and telling him to have a “real conversation” about the t-shirt, in addition to mentioning Candace Owens.