Kanye West's Anti-Semitism Controversies

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Part of a series on Kanye West / Ye. [View Related Entries]

About

Kanye West's Anti-Semitism Controversies, also known as Kanye West Going "Death Con 3" On Jewish People and Kanye West on George Floyd, refers to a string of controversies involving Kanye West that followed a problematic tweet sent by him in early October 2022 and alluded to his belief in right-wing conspiracy theories. Kanye's tweet was removed from the platform within 24 hours, however, it raised questions regarding Kanye's mental health, his apparent anti-Semitism and his then-recent 'White Lives Matter' Shirts controversy. The tweet led to Kanye being banned from Twitter. Later, an ex-TMZ staffer accused him of supporting Adolf Hitler and Nazis during his "Slavery Was a Choice" rant in 2018 at the TMZ offices. Also, an episode of LeBron James' HBO show The Shop had to be scrapped due to Kanye's appearance on it in which he doubled down on his then-recent anti-Semitic remarks.

In mid-October 2022, Kanye then tripled down on his anti-Semitism when he appeared on the Drink Champs podcast and talked about the "Jewish-controlled media," the Chinese, Jared Kushner, the death of George Floyd, Kris Jenner having sexual relations with Drake and also screamed "Jews!" to interrupt one of the podcast's hosts. On December 1st, 2022, Ye was a guest on InfoWars with Alex Jones when he stated "I see good things about Hitler."

Origin

Kanye West Going "Death Con 3" On Jewish People

On October 8th, 2022, Elon Musk welcomed Kanye West back to Twitter after a hiatus via a tweet^[1] that read, "Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!" Musk's tweet was a reply to a Kanye tweet^[2] that reiterated he'd been banned from Instagram due to an anti-Semitic post that was a screenshot of a purported text conversation between him and Sean “Diddy” Combs in which Kanye suggested that Combs was being controlled by Jewish people.^[3] Kanye's first tweet to Twitter in nearly two years about the IG ban received roughly 957,000 likes in one day (shown below, left).

Early in the morning of October 9th, 2022, Kanye West tweeted a screenshot of a Forbes article headline about his Twitter resurrection. Kanye captioned the image, "I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going 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" (shown below, right). The tweet was soon removed from Twitter for violating "hate speech" community guidelines, however, its still viewable on the Internet Archive^[4] which shows that the tweet received roughly 14,800 likes, 5,200 retweets and 2,500 replies in only 11 minutes.

Developments

After West's "Jewish People" tweet on October 9th, 2022, he posted a tweet^[5] reading, "Who you think created cancel culture?" earning roughly 275,400 likes in less than a day (shown below). While the "Jewish People" tweet was removed by Twitter, West's secondary tweet stayed up but ultimately implied that Jewish people created cancel culture.

Later on October 9th, 2022, Twitter responded to Kanye's problematic tweets by locking him out of his account and banning him.^[6]

Reactions and Memes

After Kanye's "Jewish People" tweet, Twitter users levied their responses and reactions, many of them not giving Kanye the benefit of the doubt. For instance, on October 9th, 2022, Twitter^[7] user notcapnamerica believed that Kanye should be permanently banned when asking, "Why is his account still up?" in a tweet that received roughly 14,100 likes in one day (shown below, left). Around the same time, Twitter^[8] user oneunderscore__ humorously outlined the short timeline between Musk welcoming Kanye back to Twitter and his "Jewish People" tweet, gaining roughly 51,900 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

More humorous and memetic reactions also surfaced regarding the string of Kanye tweets. For instance, on October 9th, Twitter^[9] user dickradium imagined Kanye's PR Team's reaction to the tweet by captioning an image of Family Guy's Glen Quagmire with his mouth ajar, gaining roughly 14,700 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). On October 9th, Twitter^[10] user CloakOneil used the Walt trying to warn Hank format by captioning the image, "NOOOOOOO KANYE, DONT BE ANTISEMITIC," gaining roughly 17,600 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Kanye West Accused of Praising Hitler

On October 12th, 2022, Forbes^[11] published an article that included an exclusive interview with an ex-TMZ staffer, Van Lathan Jr., who accused Kanye West of saying, "something like, ‘I love Hitler, I love Nazis,’" during West's infamous 2018 rant at the TMZ offices in which he publically voiced his support for then-President Donald Trump and claimed that "slavery was a choice" for African-Americans, which in turn, caused backlash from Ye's fans and prompted him to talk more openly about his bipolar disorder.^[12] On October 12th, 2022, Forbes tweeted a link to their article with their headline in tow, gaining roughly 7,000 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Reactions started to surface on Twitter. Some were skeptical of the ex-TMZ staffer's authenticity or tried to rationalize what Kanye might have said. For instance, on October 12th, the Twitter^[13] account of KanyePodcast likened the alleged "I love Hitler" statement to Kanye's "'Love everyone' era," gaining over 345 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). Others like Twitter^[14] user stunnnaboi stated, "So y’all finna believe what a random TMZ worker said??" gaining over 1,700 likes in the same time period (shown below, right).

Despite some support of Kanye, others had no sympathy and levied humorous criticism on social media. For instance, Twitter^[15] user and rapper Zack Fox quote retweeted Forbes' tweet, simply stating, "oh," in reference to his previously viral tweet^[16] (since-deleted) sent in 2018 that read, "highly recommend getting off the Kanye train before it inevitably reaches the 'Hitler was a good guy' stop" (shown below, left). Fox's October 12th QT received roughly 100,000 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Kanye West Being Anti-Semitic on Lebron James' The Shop

Additional backlash was portrayed on the /r/Kanye subreddit, where multiple Kanye fans expressed dismay over Kanye's apparent anti-Semitism. For instance, on October 12th, 2022, Redditor whosinabunka posted an edited Facebook "Marked Safe From" post to /r/Kanye^[17] that received roughly 2,400 upvotes in a day (shown below, left). Also on October 12th, 2022, Redditor jontargaryen140 reposted a tweet^[18] from Kurrco to /r/Kanye^[19] that stated Kanye had recorded an episode with LeBron James' The Shop HBO show in which he doubled-down on his then-recent anti-Semitic remarks. A statement was released by the The Shop as well on why they scrapped the entire episode of the show (shown below, right).

Kanye West on the Drink Champs Podcast

On October 16th, 2022, Ye then appeared on the Drink Champs podcast hosted by fellow hip-hop artists N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN. The 45-minute long interview was the third time Ye had appeared on the podcast and was uploaded to the website of Revolt TV.^[20] Within the first minutes of the podcast, Ye began talking about his beliefs about Jewish people, reiterating their alleged control of the media and how they've "owned the Black voice."

Ye touched on multiple controversial points that found their way to Twitter by critics of his beliefs. For instance, on October 16th, 2022, Twitter^[21] user The_Faiz_Phase tweeted a clip to Twitter in which Ye went on a tangent from Jewish people to the Chinese to a point about Jared Kushner. The tweet received roughly 752,100 views and 21,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Other clips surfaced on Twitter, like one uploaded by user PenisSuckingGuy^[22] in which Ye shouted "Jews!" to interupt one of the hosts. PenisSuckingGuy captioned it, "when rw twitter finally watches this interview its gonna be post fight sam hyde level memes," in reference to The Candyman meme. The tweet received roughly 3,600 views and over 200 likes in one day (shown below).

Kanye West on the Death of George Floyd

On October 16th, 2022, the Twitter^[23] account of Kurrco tweeted a clip from the podcast in which Ye reiterated that George Floyd had died from fentanyl rather than from the pressure of the police officer's knee. Ye's point reflected a prominent right-wing conspiracy theory that was disproven by autopsy reports released by the New York Times.^[24] Kurrco's tweet received roughly 9.9 million views and 47,900 likes in one day (shown below).

The aforementioned clip inspired the most amount of discourse from the podcast, garnering multiple critiques and new proclamations of Kanye's seemingly radicalized current beliefs. For instance, on October 16th, 2022, verified Twitter^[25] user JustinTinsley tweeted that the "fentanyl" theory which Ye was reiterating was "clearly a racist talking point, debunked in court, like we all didn’t see the video for ourselves and like it didn’t start worldwide protests." JustinTinsley's tweet received roughly 71,100 likes in one day.

Later on October 16th, 2022, due to Ye's comments on George Floyd's death, the family of George Floyd reportedly started to consider suing Ye for his comments, which could be perceived as defamation of character. This was reported on by the Daily Mail^[26] and tweeted^[27] about by No Jumper, gaining roughly 11,400 likes in one day (shown below).

Kanye on Chris Cuomo

On October 17th, 2022, Kanye appeared on Chris Cumo's news show to talk about his string of controversies. At one point during his appearance, he "lalala'd" Cuomo, interuppting him as he was being criticized. The clip was reposted to Twitter by multiple users, including Twitter user Kurrco, who received roughly 776,300 views and 15,700 likes in two days (shown below).

Kanye Gets Dropped By Brand Partnerships

On October 21st, Balenciaga's parent company, Kering, told Womens Wear Daily that they are severing ties with the rapper. Information about Kanye and Balenciaga's brand partnerships, as well as images of Kanye walking for the Balenciaga runway have since been removed from the brand's website. ^[28] Also on October 21st, A Vogue spokesperson told Page Six that neither the magazine nor its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour intend to work with Kanye West again after his anti-Semitic rants and support for the White Lives Matter cause. ^[29]

On October 24th, Twitter^[30] user @Lucas_Shaw posted a tweet about Hollywood film studio MRC backing out of making a documentary about Kanye West in light of his recent statements, gathering over 17,000 likes in a day . Also on October 24th, Twitter^[31] user @ZeroSuitCamus posted a tweet mocking the poetic second paragraph in the studio's statement, which begins with, "Kanye is a producer and sampler of music. Last week he sampled and remixed a classic tune that has charted for over 3,000 years -- the lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain." The post gathered nearly 30,000 likes in a day (seen below).

On October 24th, the New York Times published an article discussing the "uncertainties" in the artist's "musical future," citing him being dropped by the Creative Artists Agency, one of the world’s major booking agencies in charge of managing Kanye's tours. The article also cites a source from Def Jam that states that the artist is no longer signed to the record company, and no longer associated with G.O.O.D. Music, his own label.^[32] On October 25th, Adidas announced that they are severing ties with the rapper in a press release on their website, saying that "Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech."^[33]

Reactions to news about Kanye being dropped from his various brand deals were mixed, with people commenting on how saddened they were with his seeming downfall, and others commenting on the hypocrisy of Kanye making anti-black statements for years, but only being dropped from business deals after making anti-Semitic comments. On October 24th Twitter^[34] user @raptalksk posted a tweet about Kanye's fall from grace, gathering over 40,000 likes in nearly a day (seen below, left). Also on October 24th, Twitter^[35] user @oranicuhh posted a tweet talking about the supposed double standards in the backlash against Kanye, gathering over 40,000 likes in a day (seen below, right)

Kanye West on InfoWars

Kanye West On InfoWars refers to the December 1st, 2022, episode of the InfoWars podcast hosted by Alex Jones in which Kanye West made an appearance with Nick Fuentes. The episode resulted in considerable controversy for Kanye following his anti-Semitic statements in the months before, with particular attention and backlash given to his props, remarks made about Jewish people and his overt support for Hitler when he said "I see good things about Hitler" and "I like Hitler."

Kanye Watches 21 Jump Street / Jonah Hill

Kanye Watches 21 Jump Street and Kanye and Jonah Hill refer to viral discourse and memes started by an Instagram post from Ye in March 2023 about watching the comedy movie 21 Jump Street and subsequently stating that he liked Jewish people again due to actor Jonah Hill and his performance. After the post was uploaded, screenshots went viral across social media, leading to memes about Jonah Hill saving Kanye in regard to his history of antisemitic remarks.

He Made Graduation

He Made Graduation refers to a cliché phrase reiterated by devoted Kanye West fans to defend Kanye or rationalize his various controversies by reminding themselves that West made the 2007 album Graduation which many regards as his best work. The concept of Ye's fans saying the phrase trended in memes on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, among other places like the /r/Kanye subreddit, throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s. The phrase is most often used in Twitter replies or to caption image macros of crying or insane characters.