Kanye West is criticized for promotional image of skinned monkey

A promotional image for Ye (known as Kanye West)’s new single featuring The Game, “Easy“, is being criticized by animal welfare institutions. The rappers shared the first image ahead of the collaboration’s release last Friday, January 14th.

“My life has never been easy” they wrote in the caption.

Since then, Instagram has flagged posts with sensitive content. That’s because the image of “Easy” shows a skinned monkey. This Sunday, January 16th, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) criticized Kanye West and The Game. The institution’s president, Ingrid Newkirk, told Billboard:

“The photo recalls the monkeys that PETA found, sometimes heads, sometimes hands, sometimes full bodies, in meat markets around the world and makes it clear that when you remove the skin you cannot miss that there is a person there, that they are fellow primates and are not ours to abuse for any purpose – not in labs, roadside zoo, movies, or meat markets”.

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On twitter, an organization added:

“A disturbing image of a skinned monkey that Kanye West shared serves as a reminder that there is no real difference between humans and other animals. Their lives are not easy when we abuse them and kill them for food, experiments, clothing or entertainment”.