[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Kanye West’s antisemitic beliefs run very deep.
In a new explosive report by NBC News out on Wednesday, the outlet spoke with several former employees and collaborators of the rapper who all allegedly witnessed his antisemitic “obsession” on full display — dating back almost a decade!
In one instance, Ye paid a settlement to a former employee who claimed he used antisemitic language in the workplace. In the settlement documents reviewed by the outlet, the Heartless vocalist paid the ex-staff member after they allegedly witnessed more than one incident of their boss praising Adolf Hitler or Nazis in business meetings. Ye denied the claims in the agreement. NBC News did not share how much money was included in the settlement, withholding some details to protect the person’s anonymity. However, they believe this settlement is different from the one CNN reported last week. Meaning several people called the star out on his hostile work environment and it took this long until it reached the public…
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NBC News also chatted with six other people who worked with Kanye or witnessed him in professional settings over the last five years who all said they heard him praise Hitler or mention conspiracy theories about Jewish people. Three of them were former employees or collaborators who recalled multiple instances of Ye using antisemitic language. The other three said they recalled a 2018 incident in which he went on an antisemitic rant during an interview at TMZ.
Last month on the Higher Learning podcast, Van Lathan, a former TMZ producer, already revealed the Chicago native had an antisemitic outburst at the outlet’s offices several years ago, the contents of which were deleted. Speaking to NBC News, three former TMZ employees (all who asked to remain anonymous due to NDAs that were signed but unrelated to this specific incident) said they remembered the fashion designer’s statements about Nazis and Hitler — and the confrontation that followed.
Two of the former employees said a Jewish producer stood up to clap back at Ye’s remarks during the interview. One claimed Ye’s only response was that he smiled. That’s really f**ked up. The entire workplace was rightfully shaken up after the interview, one of the three former staffers, who worked as a production assistant, said:
“[TMZ founder] Harvey [Levin] got on the loudspeaker and was like: ‘Nobody do anything. Everybody just sit there. Nobody do anything with any work.’”
Later, a co-worker informed him Harvey said “don’t post the Jewish stuff.” Another one of the employees added:
“Harvey came back into the edit bay and said cut out anything related to Jews, to that type of antisemitism. I wish I kept the footage.”
Whoa…
Ryder Ripps, a conceptual artist who worked with Kanye on and off from 2014 to 2018, also opened up about his experience with the Grammy winner. Ryder recalled several times the Hurricane artist praised Hitler and the Nazis or mentioned anti-Jewish conspiracy theories during meetings in the summer and fall of 2018. While he pushed back at the comments, he also admitted they “didn’t seem that dangerous” to him. Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband was particularly fascinated with the Nazi propaganda at the time, Ripps recalled:
“He had told me a bunch of s**t about, like, how ‘Nazis are good at propaganda.’”
He also “said stuff like ‘Jews have the codes’ a lot,” according to Ripps. Just as upsetting, the dad of four seemed well aware that his comments might cause trouble and harm those around him. Ripps recalls him talking to an aggrieved Jewish employee, asking:
“You’re not offended that, like, I’m interested in Nazis or something.”
If you have to ask if someone is offended, you’ve gone too far!! When Ryder tried to push back once, telling Kanye, “You’re wrong,” the performer did not respond. Now, Ryder has a whole new perspective on his former collaborator’s ongoing antisemitic remarks, insisting:
“This is dangerous and disgusting and actually violent.”
So very much so!
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The artist seems particularly disturbed given the way Kanye is riling up those with other disgusting and hateful viewpoints, he continued:
“With this pattern that’s happening and with the doubling and tripling down of all this, it’s pretty obvious that this is some kind of disgusting, hate-filled, strange Nazi obsession.”
Ryder is one of many to bear witness to the IRL violence Kanye’s words are creating:
“There is a line, and I think, like, he’s crossed. I genuinely think that he’s crossed it with his current actions and beyond just, like, this is offensive, like these words are offensive. Because I’ve seen an uptick of people, like, personally attacking me … like calling me a Jew on Instagram and Twitter.”
Ripps continued, saying he believes antisemitic people have become emboldened by Ye’s public statements about Jewish people. And it seems to be the case, sadly. Ever since the high-profile artist began running his mouth, antisemitic statements appeared over an LA freeway and at a Florida-Georgia college football game. And they — or Kanye — don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, as horrifying as that is.
Another former staff member, who worked with the artist for three years, claimed the Yeezy designer praised Hitler and Nazis in casual discussions — all for attention:
“I feel like he was just kind of, like, looking around, like, seeing, like, how are people reacting? He would say, ‘I even love Hitler,’ and then he would, like, pause for reactions.”
JFC. They also recalled a 2018 meeting about an apparel project in which Ye said Hitler “had some good qualities” and that “he wasn’t all bad.” WTF. They added:
“He would kind of present things as, like, questions to ask people their opinion on something, but then he would go really hard and aggressive on, like, what he thought about it and on really just topics that would upset people, like there were people always visibly upset.”
Not okay!!
This employee, yet again, spoke on the condition of anonymity after having signed several nondisclosure agreements while working under the Donda Academy founder. They even revealed they lost count of how many NDAs they signed. Three other employees were asked to sign more than one NDA. Wow.
Another individual cited multiple instances dating to 2019 in which the father of four referred to anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, blamed Jewish people for certain events, and compared himself to Hitler. Three of his former colleagues said they remembered hearing language glorifying the dictator or targeting Jewish people multiple times… and these statements dated back as many as SEVEN years before these most recent public statements. Jeez.
This just goes to show how deeply damaging conspiracy theories can be! Had someone been able to intervene and educate Kanye at the very start of his Hitler deep dive, calling him out then and there, maybe he wouldn’t be spewing all this hate today. The Holocaust was a very real event in which almost six million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis, led by Hitler. Genocide isn’t something to praise. And just for the record, while Kanye has mental health challenges that likely need to be addressed in this latest outburst, including bipolar disorder, these remarks cannot be blamed on his diagnosis. Especially since they’ve been consistent for nearly a decade.
Interestingly, while he’s been open about having bipolar disorder since a 2016 hospitalization, he’s now begun to walk back his diagnosis… and blame it on Jewish people. In his 2018 White House meeting with President Donald Trump, he said it was a “misdiagnosis,” saying another doctor told him his mental health challenges could have stemmed from sleep deprivation. More recently in an interview with MIT research scientist Lex Fridman, he said the doctor who diagnosed him was Jewish and suggested it was all just “a control mechanism.”
So, obviously, he’s found himself in the pit of a deep, dark rabbit hole. We hope someone can help him see the light ASAP because this is just so, so horrible. And it’s deeply concerning to see how long he’s been speaking in such a hateful manner! Reactions? Let us know (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
