Kanye West has gone off the rails once again. After publicly feuding with Gap and Adidas all summer over his dissatisfactory partnerships with the companies, he kicked off October by wearing a “White Lives Matter” sweater at a surprise Yeezy fashion show.
The message received strong pushback from many celebrities, including Diddy. West made their heated exchange public by posting screenshots of their texts on Instagram, including one message in which he implied Diddy is controlled by Jews.
His account was then restricted by Instagram, after which West jumped to Twitter for the first time in two years. Following an unrepentantly antisemitic tweet in which he threatened to go “death con 3” on Jewish people, he was also locked out from Twitter.
Just days later, it was revealed West made several disparaging comments about Jewish people during a sitdown with Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson that were edited out of the two-part interview that eventually aired.
By late November 2022, West took an even darker turn by bringing alt-right figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and Nick Fuentes into the fold for a planned 2024 run for president. In early December, he publicly praised Hitler on Alex Jones’ InfoWars program.
None of this antisemitic behavior was new for West. There are at least three other instances in the past when he has either put Hitler in a positive light or perpetuated negative stereotypes against Jewish people. It just wasn’t brought to the public’s full attention until now.
See a timeline of West’s troubling history of antisemitism below.
August 6th, 2011
Midway through his set at Big Chill Festival in England, West compared himself to Adolf Hitler, saying that he felt as hated as Nazi dictator. “I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street, and people look at me like I’m fucking insane, like I’m Hitler,” he said. “One day the light will shine through and one day people will understand everything I ever did.”
November 26th, 2013
During an interview on New York hip-hop station Power 105.1, West referred to the age-old stereotype that Jewish people control the government while explaining why then-President Barack Obama wasn’t able to enact policies.
“Man, let me tell you something about George Bush and oil money and Obama and no money,” he said. “People want to say Obama can’t make these moves or he’s not executing. That’s because he ain’t got those connections… Black people don’t have the same level of connections as Jewish people… We ain’t Jewish. We don’t get family that got money like that.”
The Anti-Defamation League later shared a statement explaining why West’s comments were so problematic. “There it goes again, the age-old canard that Jews are all-powerful and control the levers of power in government,” said the national director Abraham H. Foxman. “As a celebrity with a wide following, Kanye West should know better. We hope that he will take responsibility for his words, understand why they are so offensive, and apologize to those he has offended.”
In December 2013, West told Chicago radio station B96 that his comments were taken the wrong way. “I thought I was giving a compliment, but if anything it came off more ignorant,” he admitted. “I don’t know how being told you have money is an insult.” He added that he would like to officially “take that statement away.”
May 1st, 2018
West allegedly said he “loved Hitler and the Nazis” during an infamous visit to TMZ when he also said “slavery was a choice,” according to media personality Van Lathan, who worked for the website at the time. Van Lathan spoke about the edited-out comments on his Higher Learning Podcast following the rapper’s recent string of antisemitic statements.
“I knew that [antisemitism] was in him because when he came to TMZ, he said that stuff and they took it out of the interview,” Van Lathan recalled. “If you look at what I said at TMZ, it goes from me saying like, ‘Hey Kanye, there’s real-life, real-world implication to everything that you just said there.'”
He continued, “What I say after that — if I can remember, it’s been a long time — was, ’12 million people actually died because of Nazism and Hitler and all of that stuff,’ and then I move on to talk about what he said about slavery. The 12 million people part is not in there because they took it out, and the reason they took it out is because it wouldn’t have made sense unless they kept in Kanye saying he loved Hitler and the Nazis, which he said when he was at TMZ. He said something like, ‘I love Hitler, I love Nazis.'”
October 6th, 2022
While sitting down with Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson for a sprawling two-part interview, West made antisemitic comments later obtained by Vice’s Motherboard that were edited out before it aired.
At one point, West once again referred to the stereotype that Jewish people control financial systems while saying he would prefer his kids were taught about Hanukkah instead of Kwanzaa because “at least it will come with some financial engineering.”
He also referred to the belief that Black people are the true Jewish race, which is often used to promote antisemitism against non-Black Jews. “When I say Jew, I mean the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are,” West said. “This is who our people are. The blood of Christ. This, as a Christian, is my belief.”
West added that he thought Planned Parenthood was created in order to “control the Jew population.”
October 7th, 2022
After West wore the “White Lives Matter” sweater, the rapper was rebuked by many celebrities, including Diddy. West shared screenshots of a heated exchange between the two of them on Instagram. The conversation devolved into threats of physical violence and eventually led to him implying Diddy is controlled by Jews.
“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 I told you this was war Now gone get you some business,” West wrote in a since-deleted post.
Soon after, he was restricted from using Instagram.
October 8th, 2022
Kanye West, photo by MEGA/GC Images
Unable to use Instagram, West returned to Twitter for the first time in nearly two years to post a photo of him and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg along with the caption, “Look at this Mark — How you gone kick me off instagram.”
That evening, West responded to an article calling him antisemitic by going nuclear with a post that read: “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.”
The post was removed and by Sunday morning, West was locked out of his account due to “violations of Twitter’s policies.”
October 12th, 2022
West told Page Six he was “happy” to have crossed the line into antisemitism after JPMorgan Chase cut ties with him for unspecified reasons.
“Hey, if you call somebody out for bad business, that means you’re being antisemitic,” he said. “I feel happy to have crossed the line of that idea so we can speak openly about things like getting canceled by a bank.”
October 16th, 2022
West doubled down on his antisemitic rhetoric during an appearance on Drink Champs. “Jewish people have owned the Black voice,” West said. “Either it’s through us wearing the 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. I respect what the Jewish people have done, and how they brought their people together.”
West also lashed out against “Jewish Zionists” for “putting the crazy narrative out there” and “calling him an abuser.” Additionally, he recalled how Dov Charney, the Jewish founder of Los Angeles Apparel, encouraged him to visit the Holocaust Museum, to which West told him to visit Planned Parenthood, “our Holocaust Museum.”
And yet, West pushed back at the idea that was being antisemitic. Once again referencing the 12 lost tribes of Judah, West said, “We’re all semites, we’re Jews. So I can’t be anti-semite.”
October 21st, 2022
As West doubled down on his antisemitic comments, more of his brand deals began to slip away. On October 21st, Balenciaga, who collaborated with Ye on a Yeezy Gap line, announced that it had cut ties with the rapper.
“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering, Balenciaga’s parent company, said in a statement to Women’s Wear Daily.
October 24th, 2022
On October 22nd, TMZ reported that West had hired Camille Vasquez, the lawyer who famously helped Johnny Depp win his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, to represent his business interests. Only two days later, however, their relationship came to an end. Vasquez reportedly agreed to represent West under the condition that he retract his antisemitic comments, but he refused to do so.
On the same day, popular talent agency Creative Artists Agency dropped West as a client, and the studio MRC decided not to release a completed documentary on the rapper.
October 25th, 2022
West’s relationship with Gap had been rocky for some time; the artist terminated his Yeezy Gap line last month, alleging that the company breached its contract. But until October, Gap was still selling Yeezy apparel in its stores. On October 25th, Gap officially pulled the plug on its relationship with West and announced that it had pulled his products from its retail locations and online.
At the same time, adidas — who famously distributed West’s Yeezy sneaker — finally bowed to pressure and terminated its relationship with the artist. “adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company said in a statement. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
adidas’ severance with Ye came after he attempted to intimidate a company executive by playing porn in the man’s face. With all of these partnerships terminated — and a $250 million defamation lawsuit in the works from George Floyd’s family, since West took a break from antisemitism to also say that Floyd died of fentanyl and was actually not murdered by a cop — Forbes reports that West has lost over $1.5 billion, reducing his net worth from billionaire status to about $400 million.
November 5th, 2022
In a report from TheWrap, multiple audience members who attended West’s 2019 interview for Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman claimed the rapper referenced Nazis in comments edited out from the episode. During the taping, West allegedly said liberals treated anyone wearing a red pro-Trump cap “like they were Nazis.”
November 20th, 2022
West introduced alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to paparazzi as someone “who is working” on his planned 2024 run for president. Yiannopoulos is known for his association with various neo-Nazi and antisemitic figures. By early December, however, Yiannopoulos was fired after infighting within West’s team.
November 24th, 2022
Just days later, West revealed he had brought white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes into the fold. The rapper also said he “walked in with intelligence” to a meeting with Donald Trump, who turned down West’s offer to be his running mate and later labeled him as “seriously troubled.”
November 28th, 2022
West abruptedly ended an appearance on Tim Pool’s Timcast podcast alongside Yiannopoulos and Fuentes by storming out after being challenged over his antisemitic views.
December 1st, 2022
Ye: "Hitler had a really good outfit and was a good architect and he didn't kill 6 million Jews."
Jones: "I think Hitler did target and kill some people."
Ye: "I think Obama killed Palestinians. And Obama was not the first black president. He was another Jewish president." pic.twitter.com/SgRL6MAIJg
Advertisement— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 1, 2022
While appearing on Alex Jones’ InfoWars program, West said, “I see good things about Hitler,” while falsely claiming the Nazi leader invented the microphone and highways. He added, “I like Hitler” and claimed “the Jewish media has made us feel like Nazis and Hitler have never offered us anything of value to the world.”
Even Jones pushed back on the antisemitic rhetoric by saying “I think most Jews are great people” before conceding, “I agree there’s a Jewish mafia.” Continuing his effusive praise, West said Hitler “had a really good outfit and was a good architect and he didn’t kill 6 million Jews.”
December 2nd, 2022
Elon Musk himself deleted a series of West’s tweets after the artist posted an image of a swastika over a star of David. The Twitter CEO then imposed a 12-hour suspension on West’s account for incitement of violence. It was eventually extended to what appears to be a permanent ban.
