NEW YORK >> Kanye West once suggested slavery was a choice. He called the COVID-19 vaccine “the mark of the beast.” Earlier this month, he was criticized for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to his collection at Paris Fashion Week.

Now the rapper who is legally known as Ye is again embroiled in controversy — locked out of Twitter and Instagram over antisemetic posts that the social networks said Sunday violated their policies. In one post on Twitter, Ye said he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” according to internet archive records, making an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.

“You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” he said in the same tweet posted late Saturday, which was removed by Twitter.

The comment drew a sharp rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League, which called the tweet “deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic, period.”

“There is no excuse for his propagating of white supremacist slogans and classic antisemitism about Jewish power, especially with the platform he has,” a statement said.

Representatives for Ye did not return requests for comment.

Ye has alienated even ardent fans in recent years, teasing and long tinkering with albums that haven’t been met with the critical or commercial success of his earlier recordings. Those close to him, like ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her family, have ceased publicly defending him after the couple’s bitter divorce and his unsettling posts about her recent relationship with comedian Pete Davidson.

But the social media lockouts cap a whirlwind week for Ye, even by his standards. On Oct. 3 he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt while debuting his latest fashion line in Paris, prompting harsh criticism. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, White Lives Matter is a neo-Nazi group.

Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs posted a video on Instagram saying he didn’t support the shirt, and urged people not to buy it. On Instagram, Ye posted a screenshot of a text conversation with Diddy and suggested he was controlled by Jewish people, according to media reports.

Adidas said Thursday that it was placing its lucrative sneaker deal with Ye under review. And on Saturday, Instagram locked out posts by the rapper-entrepreneur over content violations.

The social media policies for Twitter and Instagram prohibit posting offensive language.

Ye’s Twitter account is still active but he can’t post until the lockout ends. Sanctions by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, may include temporary restrictions on posting, commenting or sending direct messages. Such muzzles can last as little as 12 hours or for days, depending on how serious the violation was or how many other times the account broke the rules.