Topline Beginning in early October, Kanye West—also known as “Ye”—went on a spree of public appearances and interviews in which he spouted antisemitic comments and conspiracy theories, criticized Black Lives Matter, ended business relationships and was blocked on social media platforms, leading to widespread criticism and disavowal by industry peers—here’s everything he’s said, and what he does—and doesn’t—regret.
Timeline
West, Candace Owens and at least one model wear shirts with “White Lives Matter” written on them at West’s Yeezy fashion show in Paris; The Southern Poverty Law Center says the term is associated with a Neo-Nazi group with that same name that was founded as “a racist response to the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter” and describes itself as “dedicated to promotion of the white race and taking positive action as a united voice against issues facing our race.”
After criticizing LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault at West’s fashion show, the rapper baselessly claims on Instagram that Arnault “KILLED MY BEST FRIEND,” seemingly alluding to designer Virgil Abloh, who died of cancer last year, and later claims LVMH’s elitism and racism affected Abloh’s health; West is criticized by streetwear brand Supreme’s creative director Tremaine Emory for using Abloh’s death for his own advantage.
In an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, West wears an ultrasound photo around his neck to demonstrate his pro-life views, and baselessly claims, “There’s more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point. Fifty percent of Black death in America is abortion,” and then brings up singer Lizzo when saying being overweight is “genocide of the Black race.”
West is restricted on Instagram for violating the app’s policies after he posts a screenshot of a text conversation he had with Sean “Diddy” Combs in which he said he was going to use Combs “as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me”—which the American Jewish Committee says invokes “tropes like greed and control” about Jewish people.
On Twitter, West claims he is going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people,” an apparent misspelling of “defcon,” and says it was not antisemitic for him to say so because “black people are actually Jew also”—his account is promptly locked by the social media platform.
While his accounts elsewhere are blocked, West posts a documentary to YouTube, which contains footage of him displaying a porn movie to Adidas executives.
Vice’s Motherboard leaks footage from West’s interview with Carlson that was edited out of the broadcast, including him saying the term “Jew” refers to the “the 12 lost tribes of Judah . . . who the people known as the race Black really are”—a belief the Anti-Defamation League says stems from the Black Hebrew Isrealite movement; he also falsely says Planned Parenthood was founded to “control the Jew population.” (Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger did believe in eugenics and the racist and ableist idea of selective breeding, which the organization now denounces.)
Talk show The Shop says it would not air an interview with West because he used the platform to “reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.”
In a since-deleted episode of Drink Champs, West falsely claims that George Floyd died because of fentanyl, and not because former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine minutes; Floyd’s family subsequently says it plans to sue West for the remarks.
Conservative social media platform Parler announces West is buying it, and West says, “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.”
In an interview with Chris Cuomo, West talks about the “Jewish underground media mafia” and says his “death con 3” remarks referred to when “Black musicians signed to Jewish record labels and those Jewish record labels take ownership,” a form of “modern day slavery;” the ADL says his remarks use “age-old anti-Semitic myths about Jewish greed and power and control of the entertainment industry.”
On Piers Morgan Uncensored, after saying he did not regret his antisemitic remarks, West apologizes to “the people that I hurt with the ‘death con’” comment and to “the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I have been through.”
West tells Piers Morgan that President Joe Biden is “f**king r**arded” for not taking advice from Elon Musk, and said he can use the term because he has “mental health issues.”
CNN reports that West wanted to name his 2018 album after Adolf Hitler and, citing several anonymous sources who used to be close to West, says the rapper had an “obsession” with the Nazi leader.
West is again suspended on Instagram after posting a screenshot of a text conversation in which he says “I gotta get the Jewish business people to make the contracts fair Or die trying.”
Six people who previously worked with West tell NBC News the rapper has previously made several pro-Hitler and pro-Nazi remarks, dating back to 2018, and that he made a settlement payment to a former employee who accused him of being antisemitic (West denied the claims in the agreement).
West tweeted he is “starting to think anti-Semitic means [the N word],” which Twitter eventually removed.
West stormed out of a podcast studio in the middle of recording after receiving mild pushback from rightwing host Tim Pool over he and far-right political activist Nick Fuentes’ claims that Jewish people control the banks, politics and media.
West praised Adolf Hitler during an appearance on InfoWars, the broadcast run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, claiming that while he "loves Jewish people," he also "likes Nazis" and can see "good things about Hitler."
December 2
Kanye’s Mental Health
West has been open about his diagnosis with bipolar disorder, going so far as to call it a “superpower.” He’s spoken out about his complicated relationship with taking medicine for the condition. In 2018, he told the New York Times he was “learning how to not be on meds,” and later that year said he had not taken any for six months. “I can feel me again,” he tweeted. His ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, said in 2019 that “being on medication is not really an option, because it just changes who he is.” The following year, she pleaded for compassion for her then-spouse, writing on Instagram “He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his” mental illness. This winter, West criticized an Instagram user who suggested he was not taking his medication, saying it’s “DISMISSIVE TO SAY IM OFF MY MEDS ANYTIME I SPEAK UP.”
Kanye’s Connection To The Conservatives
In the last few years, West has become increasingly closer to conservative politicians. He previously embraced former President Donald Trump, visiting him at the White House and wearing his trademark “Make America Great Again” hats. In 2020, West ran for president as a candidate of the “birthday party,” but it was later revealed his campaign was run by those with deep connections to the Republican Party. Lately, West has been closely tied to Owens. In addition to attending his fashion show in the “White Lives Matter” shirt, West attended the premiere of her documentary The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM. It was after watching the film that West made the incorrect claim about Floyd’s death. Parler’s CEO is George Farmer—Owens’ husband.
Kanye’s Net Worth
Before Adidas cut ties with West, Forbes estimated his worth $2 billion. After West debuted the “White Lives Matter” shirts, Adidas said it was putting its relationship with him under review. Since losing the Adidas deal, we now estimate he is worth $400 million. Several other companies have severed their connections to West in light of his statements, including luxury fashion house Balenciaga, the Gap and Foot Locker.
2 comments:
Living with an acknowledged mental illness must be a challenge. However, the choice to not take his medication is not working.
Well, Hitler did like dogs and made the trains run on time. So I guess it is Ok that he murdered 6 million private citizens and started a war that engulfed damn near the whole planet, killing millions more.
Of course it is also distinctly possible that Kanye West is a few French Fries short of a happy meal.
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