Kanye West and Parler cancel acquisition deal

‘’Free speech’’ platform Parler’s parent company Parlement Technologies announced on Thursday that it has agreed with Kanye West, American rapper now known as Ye, to cancel their acquisition deal

‘’In response to numerous media inquiries, Parlement Technologies would like to confirm that the company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler,’’ said the company in a statement. ‘’This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community.’’

After being banned by Google, Apple and Amazon in January 2021, Parler was reinstated on the App Store in April the same year and on the Play Store in this September, but never returned to Amazon Appstore as its bid for restoration was rejected by a U.S. judge. The platform, which is usually associated with conservatives, has styled itself as a free–speech alternative to Twitter before it was acquired by Elon Musk.

Parlement Technologies and Ye first announced plans for the acquisition in October 18, just after the rapper was banned from Twitter and Instagram due to his anti-Semitic posts.

“When I got kicked off of Instagram and Twitter at the time, I knew it was time to acquire my own platform,” Ye said at the time, in an interview with Bloomberg.

He returned to Instagram in late October and Twitter last month. But his Twitter account has just been banned again for violating the social media company’s rules. 

‘’I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.’’ the new CEO Musk said in a tweet.