Kanye West fans start GoFundMe campaigns to 'make him a billionaire again'

Kanye West is not the first man we’d nominate to receive charitable handouts but fans are funny people.

A number of Ye’s devotees have reportedly set up GoFundMe status in the hopes of restoring the rapper-producer’s billionaire status.

The ‘Goldigger’ singer is seeing his personal fortune plummet thanks to a stream of antisemitic tirades he has spouted across social media.

Business after business has cut ties with the Grammy Award-winning star, prompting him to announce on Instagram that he “lost 2 billion dollars in one day.”

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Last week, Forbes confirmed that West, 45, no longer featured on its list of billionaires and revealed that he has a new estimated worth of $400 million.

Yes, our heart bleeds for him, too.

But on Monday it emerged that his loyal supporters had launched a series of fundraisers to re-line the disgraced artist's shrinking pockets.

However, they’re doing about as well as Ye’s personal brand is.

One such page titled ‘Make Kanye West a billionaire again’ had attracted just $5 before being swiftly removed from GoFundMe, according to hip-hop news site AllHipHop.

Another, apparently started by a man in Florida, called ‘Help Kany [sic] West Be a Billionaire Again,’ remained on the platform at the time of writing. But, 22 hours after its creation, it had attracted a grand total of zero donations.

Other GoFundMe users have attempted to capitalise on the hype surrounding Ye’s fall from grace by suggesting they’d be far worthier recipients of a 10-figure sum.

There are now scores of entries on the site with variations on the title ‘Make me a billionaire instead of Kanye West’.

The most successful of these, set up by a man in Chicago (Ye’s hometown, as it happens) and with an accompanying bio reading simply: “If you dislike Kanye West, please donate to me instead,” has hit $25 so far.

We would argue that the only deserving recipients of such offerings are groups tackling antisemitism and hate speech.

It all comes as the ‘All Falls Down’ singer grapples with yet another blow to his celebrity standing.

On Monday, Instagram confirmed that his account would be restricted for 30 days, following a violation of the platform’s policies.

Ye will not be able to post, comment or send direct messages during this time, and content was removed from his account.

The 45-year-old used the alternative messaging platform Parler, which he is in the process of buying, to announce he had once again been penalised on Instagram.

US media outlets reported that he had made a disparaging remark about “Jewish business people” in a conversation that he had screenshotted and posted to his page – this was subsequently removed by the platform and the temporary restriction was imposed.

West’s account was previously locked for 24 hours back in March, following a string of online attacks he made against his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s then-boyfriend, SNL comedian Pete Davidson.

At the time Meta confirmed that content from the account was also deleted for violating its policies on hate speech and bullying.

Other fallout from the rapper-designer’s antisemitic comments have included being dropped by adidas, the talent agency CAA and the the Balenciaga fashion house.

Last Wednesday, Madame Tussauds in London said that it had moved its wax figure of West from public view and into the museum’s archive.

West has long been an outspoken figure and was criticised earlier this month for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to the showing of his latest collection at Paris Fashion Week.

Following the controversy, Kardashian and members of her family have called for an end to the “terrible violence and hateful rhetoric” towards the Jewish community.

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