Kanye West: why has Madame Tussauds removed Ye wax figure from display, can public see it, what’s been said?

The waxwork figure of rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been removed from Madame Tussauds.

Bosses behind the tourist attraction made the decision on Wednesday 26 October amid the controversy the singer has caused with antisemitic comments he made earlier this month.

German sportswear giant Adidas has already cut ties with Ye as a result of his remarks and he is also being sued by the family of George Floyd after he claimed that he died of a drug overdose. He has even been removed from the Forbes billionaire list.

So, what did Madame Tussauds say about removing the wax figure, can the public still say it, and what did Ye say?

Here’s what you need to know.

What did Madame Tussauds say about removing Ye’s wax figure?

The figurine was originally launched in the London museum in 2015 alongside a waxwork of his then wife Kim Kardashian.

A spokesperson from Madame Tussauds suggested that the decision to remove the figure came from a change in how the public are now viewing the singer.

They told the PA news agency: “Ye’s (Kanye West’s) figure has been retired from the attraction floor to our archive.

“Each profile earns their place at Madame Tussauds London and we listen to our guests and the public on who they expect to see at the attraction.”

In the past few days, Ye’s ex-wife Kardashian and members of her family have called for an end to the “terrible violence and hateful rhetoric” towards the Jewish community.

Can Ye’s wax figure still be viewed by the public?

The model of the US rapper, who has legally changed his name to Ye, has been moved to an archive by the museum, which contains more than 150 lifelike figures of celebrities and famous faces. It cannot currently be viewed by the public.

What did Ye say?

During an appearance on the Drink Champs podcast on Saturday 15 October, West blamed “Jewish media” and “Jewish Zionists” for numerous alleged wrongdoings, saying that “Jewish people have owned the Black voice” and that “the Jewish community, especially in the music industry… they’ll take us and milk us till we die”.

During the three-hour long podcast, West sparked further controversy by claiming that George Floyd died from the drug fentanyl and that a police officer’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that”.

The mother of Floyd’s daughter is now suing West for $250m over his claim, and the episode has since been taken down.

Later on the same day, Saturday 15 October, the singer also claimed that he “doesn’t believe” in the term antisemitism.

During the night of Saturday 15 October, West wrote now deleted tweet that he was going to go “defcon 3” on Jewish people and alleged that he wasn’t “anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew,” while on Instagram he accused record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of being controlled by the religious minority. Both posts led to him being locked out of the respective platforms.