An unrivalled artist in the eyes of many, some fans dub Kanye West the greatest musician of all time. And yet, his actions out the studio often attract critics – not for merely eyebrow raising behaviour, but full on offensive actions.

For evidence of this look merely at his latest social media post. The ‘Gold Digger’ rapper took to social media to share a clip of Pamela Anderson completely in the nude. The Baywatch alum – who was Playboy’s February Playmate back in 1990 – is seen walking around naked, presenting the late Hugh Hefner with a cake for his 82nd birthday. The video dates to 2008, when a now 57-year-old Pamela was 40. Sharing the video with his 20.3 million Instagram followers, Kanye captioned the clip with a jarring audio that repeated the phrase, ‘Hide your bitch.’

The post was admittedly puzzling. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), confused fans questioned the purpose of the clip. One posted ‘I don’t think Pamela Anderson is going to like what Kanye did,’ as another asked, ‘Did Pamela approve Kanye to post that video?’

Another wrote, ‘Why did Kanye post Pamela Anderson naked on his stories? It’s very difficult to defend this man, I try very hard sometimes.’

Pamela is yet to respond to Kanye’s post. However, she has in the past reflected on the ‘difficult’ aspect of being sexualised in the spotlight due to her former career. Pamela, who shares two sons with her ex Tommy Lee, said, ‘Being a working mom and being in this entertainment world, and having your mom be sexualised in some way – I didn’t realise how difficult it was [for them]’

Of course, Kanye’s latest post was far from shocking. After all, the rapper, 47, is no stranger to a risqué, eyebrow-raising display. Over the years, he’s become well-known for posting explicit photographs of the women in his life – most commonly of his wife Bianca Censori, 30, whom he married back in 2022.

As disappointing as it is to admit, casual misogyny has become part of the parcel when it comes to this music mogul. From bizarre Twitter fights to exclamation-mark ridden rants, the rapper has a long history of problematic online behaviour.

Back in 2016, the father of four– two of which are daughters North, 11, and Chicago, seven – tweeted the words no woman at the time wanted to read. He put out to his followers ‘BILL COSBY INNOCENT !!!!!!!!!!’ That is, the same Cosby who was accused of sexual misconduct by over 50 separate women and jailed for sexual assault in 2018. In 2021, he was released after three years in prison, with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturning his conviction.

Research shows that five in six women who are raped don’t report it. Far more than simply tone deaf and moronic, comments like Kanye’s are offensive and dangerous in a world that often paints women as ‘liars’ and perpetuates a culture where they feel afraid to come forward.

Casual sexism streams into his music, too. The video for his 2010 song ‘Monster’ features Kanye rearranging the lifeless bodies of women on a bed – in a way that, according to Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkessian, ‘fetishises the aspects of women that don’t even require us to be physically alive.’

Kanye’s problematic moments seep into his personal life, also. It was well documented that the rapper controlled ex-wife Kim’s fashion choices (as seen on their reality TV show) by rebuilding her wardrobe to fit his taste. After splitting with the Yeezy founder, Kim admitted to finding it ‘psychologically hard’ to style herself – saying, ‘I was so insecure that I couldn’t do anything without my security blanket.’

Amber Rose is another woman Kanye has consistently torn down. After splitting from Amber in 2010 after two years together, Kanye later said, ‘It’s very hard for a woman to want to be with someone that’s with Amber Rose. I had to take 30 showers before I got with Kim.’ In his song ’30 Hours,’ Kanye once again insulted Amber – rapping, ‘My ex says she gave me the best years of her life/ I saw a recent picture of her/ I guess she was right.’

In 2020, Amber Rose finally hit back at the string of abuse she had received. She stated, ‘[Kanye] has picked on me for 10 years. He has bullied me for 10 years.’

But perhaps most famous of all was his fallout with popstar Taylor Swift. In his song ‘Famous’, Kanye raps, ‘I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that bitch famous.’ Cameras pan over a mannequin of Swift’s naked body in bed, accompanied by Kanye and various other woman of notoriety. The line harked back to Kanye’s infamous 2009 VMA blunder, in which he interrupted a 19-year-old Taylor mid acceptance speech to insist that Beyonce should have won the award for Best Female Video instead.

Releasing his song in 2016, Kanye initially claimed on Twitter that Taylor had given her blessing – going so far to say he was ‘not even gonna take credit for the idea.’ Taylor’s team quickly shut down Kanye’s claim, insisting that the singer ‘was never made aware of the actual lyric.’ In a fallout that has become pop culture lore, Kanye’s then-wife Kim waded into the controversy by releasing a phone call recording– one that seemingly showing Taylor agreeing to the sexist line.

A phone call which, four years later, was confirmed to have been edited. Amid the vitriol and humiliation received at the hands of Kimye, the ‘Cruel Summer’ singer later shared, ‘You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar. That took me psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. Make no mistake – my career was taken away from me.’

It’s not just sexism that runs rife in the world of Ye. In 2022, the star’s social media accounts were restricted following a string of antisemitic posts. Race has also played into it, with his repertoire including inflammatory statements on slavery being a ‘choice.’ Some might describe Kanye’s more questionable actions as ‘missteps’ or ‘misjudgements,’ absolving him of responsibility by painting him as an individual who simply didn’t know the consequences of his actions.

I would argue that an intelligent man like Kanye knows. The rapper isn’t completely oblivious to his criticisms, previously displaying a certain level of introspection. When criticised for his song ‘Perfect Bitch,’ (which he tweeted was ‘about Kim’) the rapper asked, ‘Is the word BITCH acceptable? To be more specific, is it acceptable for a man to call a woman bitch even if it’s endearing?’

Some refuse to believe his actions are an accurate representation of Kanye the Individual, but rather a portrayal of Kanye the Performer – someone who causes controversy in the name of art. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Put simply, there are ways to be provocative that don’t involve degrading women.