Kanye West has been under heat for posting antisemitic tweets, inspiring not only sponsors, but civilian and celebrity fans alike to cut all ties with the now-former billionaire rapper.
On Friday, October 7, West began posting an argument he was having with rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs to his Instagram account. The argument, which started over the phone, was initiated by Combs, who was expressing his concerns over the controversy West was stirring up regarding his “White Lives Matter” T-shirts and his negative comments about the Black Lives Matter movement.
The conversation turned to text, where Kanye wrote, “This ain’t a game. 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.”
West was implying that Combs is controlled by Jewish people – an antisemitic trope. The former, who hadn’t tweeted since November of 2020, then took to Twitter where he got himself into more trouble.
“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 have have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
The tweet has since been taken down with an automated message that reads, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.”
The tweet came a day after West called out Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for restricting his Instagram account after the incident with Combs.
Many celebrities have spoken out against West’s recent actions.
Supermodel Gigi Hadid called him “a bully and a joke” on Instagram.
Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith, who left Kanye’s Paris Fashion Week show early due to Kanye’s “White Lives Matter” shirt tweeted, “If I Don’t Feel The Message I’m Out. Black Lives Matter.”
Jamie Lee Curtis tweeted, “The holiest day of Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. You are father. Please stop.”
Ex-wife Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian have both shared comments supporting the Jewish community, but never mentioned West’s name.
Balenciage, Adidas, and the Creative Artist Agency are some of the companies that have severed ties with Kanye, with Adidas later noting the move to terminate their relationship cost $246 million.
Other celebrities supported Kanye either openly or candidly.
Black conservative, Candace Owens, who wore the “White Lives Matter” T-shirts with West, stated, “If you are an honest person, you did not think this tweet was antisemitic. She continued, “You do not think that he wrote this tweet because he hates or wants to genocide Jewish people. This is not the beginning of the Holocaust.”
Once West started tweeting again, Elon Musk commented, “Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!”
During an interview with Piers Morgan, an apology was made. “I will say I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the ‘death con’ (comments). I feel like I caused hurt and confusion. And I’m sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through, and that I used my platform where you say hurt people hurt people. I was hurt,” said West.
These words proved too little too late, though, as the Goyim Defense League, an anti-Semitic group, had already hung a banner over a Los Angeles freeway on Saturday declaring that “Kanye is right.” Those on-hand in support of this rhetoric were seen offering Nazi salutes in an image that’s now been mass-shared on social media by those condemning hate speech and West in the same breath.
