Kanye West to Run Into Trouble if He Decides to Sell His 'White Lives Matter' T-Shirts | Here's Why

If Kanye West tries to sell his "White Lives Matter" T-shirts in the U. S., he might run into trouble with two Black radio hosts in Arizona.

Late last month, Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, hosts of the weekly racial justice radio show Civic Cipher, got the legal rights to use the phrase on clothing.

Ward told CNN that taking ownership of the trademark for the phrase "White Lives Matter" was a difficult decision for them, but they agreed to do it after "it was clear that someone stood to gain significant profit from it."

The host claimed that even though Kanye says some hurtful, divisive, and sometimes crazy things, he has a loyal fan base, and everything he puts out will sell out quickly.

Ward claimed that the phrase has greater staying power than they anticipated, and the best-case scenario is that no one uses it in the coming months. The two hosts consider owning the trademark a "responsibility," which includes ensuring that it does not fall into the wrong hands.

They also did not want anyone to potentially profit from the phrase, which had been categorized as a "hate slogan" by the Anti-Defamation League. White supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan are using the phrase to respond to the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent was initially filed last month, on the same day Kanye wore the "White Lives Matter" shirt at the Paris Fashion Week.

Based on the data, the person who first registered the trademark surrendered it to Ja and Ward's company, Civic Cipher LLC, weeks later.

The Civic Cipher told CNN that the trademark's original owner is a listener of their show and requested to remain anonymous. Ja also told the outlet that owning the trademark gave them the exclusive right to sell clothing bearing that word.

"I think that maneuver was primarily to ensure that other people would not profit from it," the listener said after learning that the rapper-producer "repopularized" the term.

Ja and Ward do not know why the listener bought the rights to the phrase in the first place, but they think that when the term became popular again, the listener no longer felt they were the right person to promote those efforts.

Kanye West Wears 'White Lives Matter' Shirt

Kanye West has always been good at stirring the pot, but he took them to a new level earlier last month.

His recent problems started on October 3, when "White Lives Matter" shirts were spotted on some models at his Yeezy fashion show during Paris Fashion Week.

Kanye also wore the shirt with the same phrase "White Lives Matter" on the back and an image of Pope John Paul II on the front during the show and posed with Candace Owens for a picture.

The rapper's subsequent Instagram posts targeting fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson inflamed the situation. He also blasted Gigi Hadid and Hailey Bieber for supporting the fashion editor.

Then, he defended his words through Tucker Carlson's Fox News broadcast and said he used "White Lives Matter" because he thought it was "funny."

Before this controversy died down, Kanye sparked another issue with his "anti-Jewish" post. After posting anti-Semitic comments on Instagram and Twitter on October 8, the social media platforms took down his accounts. Ariana Grande, Diddy, John Legend, Jack Antonoff, and others have condemned his remarks.

Kanye West Pays Settlement to Previous Employee Who Alleged He Uses Antisemitic Words in Workplace

NBC News reported about the documents showing Kanye West paid a settlement to a former employee who said he had used antisemitic language at work.

Six people who have known Kanye professionally or worked with him in the past five years claimed to have overheard him praising Adolf Hitler or discussing Jewish conspiracy theories.

Three of them were once his employees or coworkers, and they claimed to recall him making anti-Semitic remarks on several occasions.

The three other individuals recalled a moment in 2018 when the rapper launched into an anti-Semitic tirade during an interview in TMZ's offices.

Their stories and the settlement suggest that Kanye West has used this kind of language for years, more often than the public knew before.

It was reportedly long before his recent antisemitic comments online and in interviews came to light, which caused him to lose a lot of business deals.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: 'We accepted this responsibility': Radio hosts on 'White Lives Matter' trademark - From ABC News