Image by Twitter

By Aiden Pink April 26, 2018

Kayne West’s series of Twitter messages praising President Trump on Wednesday included a selfie with music mogul Lyor Cohen flashing a hand signal that some assumed to have connections to the “alt-right.”

Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s Global Head of Music, showed the “OK” sign while standing next to West, who was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat. The sign has been appropriated by white nationalist figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and writers of the conspiracy theory blog The Gateway Pundit, who flashed the sign in the White House Press Room.

But a YouTube representative told Spin that the hand signal had any nefarious connections. “The hand gesture made by Lyor Cohen is representative of the company he founded, 300 Entertainment and absolutely nothing more,” the spokesperson wrote.

TMZ noted that Lyor had made the gesture many times before.

While many fans have expressed their disappointment that West has seemed to embrace President Trump, Cohen is sticking with him.

“I went to listen to music and see Kanye,” Cohen said in a statement explaining the selfie. “He is someone I care about. I don’t abandon people. With great music comes great pain and stress. The music is incredible!”

Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink

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