Kanye West has been making headlines once again, this time not for the release of an album, but for garnering public outrage.
West is no stranger to scandal and shocks the public with his, at times, erratic behavior. The rapper outdid himself when he tweeted on Oct. 9th, 2022: “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 tweet has since been deleted, and Instagram and Twitter have both restricted West’s accounts. Both companies confirmed to NPR that the reason for removing the posts and locking the accounts were due to a violation in their user policies. Neither Twitter nor Instagram specified whether or not West’s accounts would be deleted for his actions.
Kanye West has been a controversial figure for some time. This scandal follows the rapper’s appearance at Paris Fashion Week, where he was pictured with the prominent conservative speaker Candace Owens wearing shirts that read “White Lives Matter.”
Unfortunately, it seems that anti-semitic and anti-black rhetoric isn’t as lethal to one’s reputation as it should be. A handful of prominent conservatives have come forward to defend West, such as Candace Owens and Indianna’s Attorney General Todd Rokita.
“The constant hypocrisy from the media is at an all time high. They have now gone after Kanye for his fashion line, his independent thinking, and for having opposing thoughts from the norm of Hollywood,” Rodkita tweeted in response to an article in MSNBC calling West a “racist hate-monger.”
“If you are an honest person, you did not think this tweet was antisemitic,” Owens stated on an episode of her political talk show “Candace.” “You did not think that he wrote this tweet because he hates or wants to genocide Jewish people. This is not the beginning of a Holocaust.”
In response, many have taken to social media to confirm that West can in fact, be both black and anti-semetic. To claim he will “go death con 3 on Jewish people” is inherently offensive.
Others, such as the American singer-songwriter John Legend, have criticized the idea that West is a ‘free thinker.’ “Weird how all these ‘free, independent thinkers’ always land at the same old anti-blackness and anti semitism,” tweeted Legend in response to Rodkita’s support of Kanye.
As many people as there are condemning West for his rhetoric, there exist people who proudly support him and his statements. This proves that even in 2022 anti-semitism is not a career killer.
The current state of affairs is one where attention is more profitable than morals, and outrage garners a lot of attention. West may have lost whatever fans he has left, but he will undoubtedly gain new ones who agree with his blatant anti-semitism and anti-blackness.
His reputation is far from destroyed, and if Mel Gibson’s career is any indication, West is sure to enjoy the benefits of being a public figure with a nasty track record. To see a real change would require a considerable shift in the culture and a conscious decision to not give bigotry a platform — even if the one perpetuating said bigotry is entertaining.
