Parler, the self-proclaimed “uncancelable” social platform, announced today that it’s come to a mutual agreement with its would-be buyer, Ye, not to move forward with the intended sale. The openly antisemitic rapper has been making headlines nonstop this fall over his concerning outbursts and reports of workplace misconduct, leading partners like Gap and Adidas to cut ties with him. Parler, on the other hand, has largely faded out of mainstream relevance in the nearly two years after it was condemned for its role in the January 2021 Capitol riots.
Though Parler was booted from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store in 2021 and dropped by its cloud host, Amazon Web Services, it eventually managed to get itself back online and in app stores after changing its content moderation policies. But it returned to fresh competition from the likes of Gettr and Trump’s Truth Social, the latter of which launched in winter 2022. With its planned sale to Ye, announced in October, Parler once again found a high-profile figure to attach itself to whose coattails (and wallet) it could ride toward a bigger userbase and more secure future.
Today, though, Parler’s parent company made public the news that Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, would no longer be purchasing the “free speech” platform. The announcement came just hours after the rapper spewed antisemitic remarks during an interview with prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, even going as far as to say (via The Hill), “I like Hitler.” Despite the timing, reps for Parler have indicated the comments did not play into the decision to terminate their deal, telling multiple outlets including Reuters that “this decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November."
Parler Is On Its Own Again
Parler first revealed Ye’s plans to buy the platform in a blog post in mid-October, amid heightened scrutiny over his alarming public behavior. At the time, the company referred to him as “a compatriot in the fight for free speech,” and in a statement, Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer said, “Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again. Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative.”
While the deal was initially slated to close around the end of this year, Axios reported in late November that the plans were on shaky ground. Just over a week later, the deal’s termination has been confirmed. Lest Parler be accused of failing to honor its own anything-goes free speech mantra by cutting ties with Ye in the wake of his latest comments, the platform is holding fast to its statement that the deal fell through last month, well before the Infowars appearance.