Expert 'rules out' hate crime charge against Kanye West

Kanye West is under fire for his recent shocking posts about his wife, Bianca Censori, and the Jewish community, leading some on the internet to call for legal action against him.

However, a legal expert told Radar Online that his offensive tweets did not meet the definition of the California Department of Justice in classifying hate or domestic abuse.

"The posts are obviously hateful, but don't qualify as a hate crime or domestic abuse crime," the practitioner added.

"California Penal Code section 422.55 defines a 'hate crime' as a criminal act committed because of the characteristics of the victim – disability, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation," the expert added.

"California Penal Code section 422.6 makes clear that no one is allowed, by force or threat of force, to 'injure, intimidate, interfere with, oppress, or threaten' others because of these characteristics," it continued.

"Spouting off hateful rhetoric, itself, is not a crime. Here, Ye is not making direct threats against anyone, or encouraging people to act out in a violent way against a specific person or group of people," the source explained.

"The ADL quote mentions that there were 30 antisemitic incidents tied to Ye's 2022 rants, but it doesn't specify whether any of those incidents were violent or otherwise criminal in nature, and it is too early to tell whether these posts will have such an effect. It may be that people see these posts more as a sign of deteriorating mental health than a persuasive call to action."

Regarding the posts about Bianca, the source said, "The only person specifically mentioned by name in his posts is his wife. To this end, you asked whether his quote about having 'dominion' over his wife could lead to questioning. My belief is, no.

"His quote about having 'dominion' over his wife is like a Biblical reference. Then, his quotes praising his wife's 'bravery body platform' and touting himself as 'a husband that supported (their) personal expression' make his 'dominion' quote seem less offensive," the expert noted.

"Section 273.5 of the Penal Code requires the infliction of physical injury for a domestic abuse charge, so that would not apply, nor does it seem that his wife is alleging anything of the sort."

"All in all, in my view, Ye continues to offend and show signs of compromised mental health but hasn't done anything that constitutes a crime," the legal expert concluded.