Kanye West has been making a lot of headlines lately for all the wrong reasons. Ever since the beginning of the month, the rapper has made several anti-Semitic and racist statements, facing backlash from fans and celebrities.
The public outrage has reached to a point that Ye had to be dropped from a number of brands, including Adidas and Balenciaga, and has also lost billions of dollars. But what are anti-Semitic remarks, and what did the rapper exactly say in his statements? Read on to find out.
A Timeline of Kanye West’s Anti-Semitic Remarks
Anti-Semitism is hatred or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group. The term was coined by German agitator Wilhelm Marr in 1879 to define the anti-Jewish campaigns underway in Central Europe at that time.
Kanye’s antisemitic remarks date back to the beginning of October when the rapper wore a ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt during Paris Fashion Week. Ye was called out on social media, by many celebrities including Diddy. Following the backlash, West started posting antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media.
Kanye first claimed that Diddy was being controlled by Jewish people. Instagram then suspended his account, and the rapper went on to tweet that he was going to ‘death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.’
“The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti-Semitic because Black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” Ye added. His Twitter account was also suspended post the remarks.
The rapper then faced severe outrage for his comments, but he doubled down on his opinion on October 13, stating that he was happy to have crossed the line. “Hey, if you call somebody out for bad business, that means you’re being anti-Semitic. I feel happy to have crossed the line of that idea so we can speak openly about things like getting canceled by a bank,” he said in an interview.
Ye then defended his controversial tweet, commenting that he wasn’t “Anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew.” A few days later, he appeared on the Drink Champs podcast, where he shared a number of conspiracy theories and claimed that he had been ‘blocked by Jewish media.’ The episode was deleted shortly after, and the host had to post an apology.
On October 19, Kanye made an appearance on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show, and when asked if he regrets his ‘death con 3’ tweet, he replied, “No, absolutely not. I fought fire with fire. I’m not here to get hosed down.” However, he continued to say that he was ‘sorry for the people that he hurt’ and the ‘confusion that he caused.’
Kanye is now Facing the Consequences of his Comments
The rapper’s remarks led to his account’s being restricted on Twitter and Instagram. Many of his close friends and ex-wife Kim Kardashian called him out on social media for his actions. Last week, luxury fashion house Balenciaga decided to cut ties with him.
After pressure from the public, Adidas, which had a deal with the rapper for the retail of his Yeezy products, also parted ways with him. Hollywood agency CAA, which had represented Kanye since 2016, decided to end its partnership with him as well.
For more news and updates, keep watching this space.
