Kanye’s adoration for Adolf Hitler, Nazis and Holocaust-denial has made one thing clear: all platforms must remove him now
As the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, continues to peddle his malevolent and mendacious antisemitic rhetoric, one thing has become abundantly clear: He must be removed from all social media platforms.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Kanye West’s putrid endorsement of Adolf Hitler and Nazis, and his denial of the genocide of six million Jewish men, women and children on conspiracist Alex Jones’ show, followed by his grotesque image of a swastika over a Jewish Star of David, show that he has no shame. His disdain for Jews and his unhinged conspiracy theories about Jewish control echo those of the Nazi leader whom he so admires and show that he has no place on social media platforms.
“In his quest for attention, Mr West is in a rush to the bottom. His depraved rants against Jews and adoration for Hitler should be enough for social platforms to understand the damage that he does. All platforms must not merely suspend him or restrict him: they must remove him, and now he must be shunned like the pariah he has become.”
Yesterday, the rapper made an appearance on Infowars, the online alternative news programme fronted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, where he spewed a slew of antisemitic comments which included praise for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, as well as denial of the Holocaust.
At one point during the programme, Mr Jones, who has his own difficulties with the truth, pathetically said to Mr West: “You’re not Hitler, you’re not a Nazi, you don’t deserve to be called that and demonised.”
The disgraced rapper, who wore a black hood over his face throughout the interview, responded: “Well, I see good things about Hitler also. The Jews…I love everyone, and the Jewish people are not going to tell me ‘You can love us and you can love what we are doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we are pushing with the pornography’, but this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good and I am done with that.
“I am done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”
In another section of the interview, Mr West stated: “I don’t like the word ‘evil’ next to ‘Nazis’. I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.”
He went on to say that Hitler was “a cool guy” who “didn’t kill six million Jews. That’s just factually incorrect.”
If any further clarification were needed on Mr West’s abhorrent views, he doubled down, saying: “I like Hitler…I’m not trying to be shocking, I like Hitler. The Holocaust is not what happened, let’s look at the facts of that and Hitler has a lot of redeeming qualities.”
During the interview, he was accompanied by the white supremacist and Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes, who has previously argued that Jews should not be allowed in politics.
Recently, Mr West and Mr Feuntes were outrageously hosted by former President Donald Trump for a dinner that has been roundly condemned, including by the embattled former President’s erstwhile allies.
Shortly after the interview with Mr Jones, the rapper tweeted an image of a swastika overlayed with a Jewish Star of David. He was then promptly suspended for twelve hours by Twitter. The platform’s new owner, Elon Musk, commented on the ban: “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.”
Mr West’s latest outburst arrives following a series of antisemitic comments in recent weeks, which resulted in Adidas cutting ties with the rapper after Campaign Against Antisemitism launched a petition garnering nearly 200,000 signatures in a matter of days.
- On 7th October 2022, he posted on Instagram: “Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.”
- Two days later he tweeted: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con [sic] 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”
On an episode of the Drink Champs podcast, aired on 16th October 2022, Mr West:
- Said: “The thing about me and Adidas is like, I can literally say antisemitic s*** and they can’t drop me. I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”
- Demanded: “I want all the Jewish children to look at they daddy and say ‘Why is Ye mad at us?’”
- Stated that was “Me Too-ing the Jewish culture. I’m saying y’all gotta stand up and admit to what y’all been doing, and y’all just got away with it for so long, that y’all ain’t even realise what y’all doing.”
- Referred throughout the interview to “Jewish business secrets”, “Jewish Zionists”, and stated how Jewish people in the entertainment industry “will take one of us, the brightest of us, that can really feed a whole village, and they’ll take us and milk us until we die.”
- Claimed that he had been “blocked out” by “the Jewish media”.
- Said: “Jewish people have owned the Black voice, whether it’s through us wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt, or it’s all of us being signed to a record label, or having a Jewish manager, or being signed to a Jewish basketball team, or doing a movie on a Jewish platform like Disney.”
- Doubled down on his tweet about “going death con [sic] 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE”, claiming that he “is Jewish also”, adding: “We’re not just Black. We are Jew [sic], just like the Jewish people…I can’t be an antisemite.”
- Claimed that he responded to being invited to a Holocaust museum by saying: “I want you to visit Planned Parenthood. That’s our Holocaust museum.”
- Complained about being photographed in public, saying: “You get used to being screwed by the Jewish media.”
- Said: “A thing that a Jewish person will always say is they’ll say ‘This is mine’. Something that a Black person built, or any company built, they’ll be like ‘This is mine now’.”
- Referencing fellow rapper Ice Cube, who was criticised for sharing an antisemitic image, said: “You really influenced me to get on this antisemite vibe, and I’m here to finish the job.” (Ice Cube has refuted this claim and distanced himself from Ye.)
In an interview on CUOMO on the NewsNation network, aired on 18th October 2022, Mr West:
- Said: “I don’t like the term ‘antisemitic’. It’s been a term that’s allowed people, specifically in my industry, to get away with murder.”
- Made comments referring to the “Jewish underground media mafia”.
- Claimed “Jewish people own the Black voice.”