Elon Musk and Kanye West’s decade long bromance explained

One is an anti-Semitic superstar rapper running for president. The other is the richest man in the world who spends his days posting memes to the social media platform he purchased on a whim. And both have been friends for more than a decade.

Elon Musk and Kanye West don’t appear to have much in common at first glance, but the pair have a years-long relationship that may explain why the former is still backing the latter despite the rapper’s numerous anti-Semitic comments.

Mr Musk and Mr West first met in 2011, when the SpaceX owner gave the rapper a private tour of the company’s rocket factory.

"Kanye stopped by the SpaceX rocket factory today," Musk tweeted at the time.

In 2020, Mr Musk recalled their friendship fondly, responding to a photo of the men together at the factory by calling it a "hell of a decade."

In the years after their first meeting, Mr Musk was complimentary of Mr West, calling him a "member of the cultural pantheon" in Time Magazine’s "100 Most Influential People" list.

"Kanye’s belief in himself and his incredible tenacity — he performed his first single with his jaw wired shut — got him to where he is today. And he fought for his place in the cultural pantheon with a purpose," Mr Musk wrote in the bio.

He praised Mr West for being unafraid of judgement and for pushing the boundaries of his field.

"He’s not afraid of being judged or ridiculed in the process," Mr Musk wrote. "Kanye’s been playing the long game all along, and we’re only just beginning to see why."

Then, in 2018 during South by Southwest in Austin, Mr Musk told an audience during a Q&A that he was "obviously" inspired by Mr West.

The lovefest wasn’t one sided; Mr West praised Mr Musk the same year, saying in a tweet that he "really love[s] my Tesla."

"I’m in the future," he said. "Thank you Elon."

In a more confusing show of support the same year, Mr West visited a small art college in Detroit and told students there not to criticise Elon Musk.

"I don’t give a f*** who’s at his house. Leave that man the f*** alone," he shouted at students.

It’s unclear why he felt the need to defend Mr Musk at the time.

Mr West and Mr Musk also posed together in a photo in 2019 at the Kardashian-Jenner family Christmas Eve party, along with their spouses singer Grimes and Kim Kardashian. Both of those relationships have since ended.

The next year, Mr West announced his plan to run for president, despite missing numerous state deadlines to be added to the ballot. At the time, Mr Musk tweeted that Mr West had "my full support!"

In 2022, Mr Musk would buy Twitter and re-instate Mr West’s account after the rapper was banned for making anti-Semitic remarks on the platform and claiming he would go "death-CON 3" on Jewish people.

With Mr Musk now the owner of Twitter and Mr West making comments in public including "I like Hitler" and "I love Nazis," their friendship may be put to the test. On Thursday, Mr West said he would allow conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes to post from his account.

Both Mr Jones and Mr Fuentes have been banned from Twitter, and if Mr West allows them to post on his account, it would violate Twitter’s policies on ban evasion.

Though it’s unclear exactly who posted it, someone tweeted on Mr West’s account that they "love the first amendment! Long live Ye! I pray to Jesus that Elon is for real…"

If it’s found that the person who tweeted is Mr Jones or Mr Fuentes, it will ultimately be up to Mr Musk if Mr West’s account is once again banned or if he will get special treatment from his longtime friend.