Kanye West Faces Consequences for Antisemitic Comments

By Peri Newman ‘24
Rapper Kanye West has posted many antisemitic remarks on social media over the past several months, praising Hitler and the Nazi party. This comes after a Thanksgiving dinner with former President Donald Trump during which West praised the Nazi regime. 

West’s hateful comments did not start in November. In October 2022, West tweeted: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” referencing the Defcon military alert system. In response, his Twitter account was banned and the tweet deleted. 
“ I feel that it is random seeing Kanye go from making music, to all of a sudden going public and making these antisemitic remarks,” Noah Hazan ‘24 explained. 
    Later, on “The Alex Jones Show,” West repeatedly praised Hitler and the Nazi party, also disputing the “Jewish media’s” claim that Hitler and the Nazis have not offered anything to the world. 
Following the interview, West was suspended from Twitter again after posting an image of a Nazi swastika inside a Star of David. His hateful and antisemitic statements have raised public concern and debate over his politics, the nature of his growing extremism and the state of his mental health. 
Additionally, West’s antisemitic speech has given white supremacists and antisemites the confidence to spread hate, with many using West’s name to bolster their arguments and justify odious comments about the Jewish people. 
“It is horrifying to hear a celebrity followed by numerous fans spread such hateful speech,” said junior Rebecca Altmann. “As a Jewish teenager growing up in a world of social media, I am frightened to see how easily people can make such appalling comments,” 
Many large corporations like Adidas, Balenciaga and others have cut ties with West following his antisemitic comments. Adidas commented in a press release that, “after a thorough review, [Adidas] has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye [a nickname for West] immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.”
West’s relationship with Adidas has spanned almost a decade and included multiple collaborations with Kanye’s billion-dollar clothing line, Yeezy. In response to the termination of the partnership, West said, “I think Adidas felt like because everyone was ganging up on me that they had the right to just take my designs.” 
According to Balenciaga, the company also “no longer [has] any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.” 
Many wonder what will be next for West as major companies cut their ties with him and he faces strong public criticism. Since this, West’s behavior has not changed and many fear that as long as he maintains his social media presence this behavior may continue further endangering the lives of Jews all over the world. 
“It is very frustrating that an artist whose music I enjoy can make such disgraceful statements about the Jewish community so publicly, or at all,” said junior Chloe Elder.