Kanye West doubled down on his antisemitic comments during a controversial new interview, praising Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.
“I see good things about Hitler also. I love everyone,” the Yeezy designer, 45, while speaking with Alex Jones on Monday, December 1, per Rolling Stone. West added that he was “done with” the idea that people couldn’t say that the Nazi leader did good things, arguing, “Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler. Also, Hitler was born Christian.”
West reiterated his antisemitic sentiments throughout the interview, stating at one point that he “like[s]” Hitler. The “Flashing Lights” rapper seemingly backtracked on some of his opinions, claiming that he also loves Jewish people in addition to white supremacists.
The Chicago native first made headlines for his antisemitic comments in October after tweeting, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 [sic] 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.”
Twitter swiftly deleted the post, and West was temporarily banned from the platform as a result. However, the Grammy winner’s account was restored last month by new owner Elon Musk.
West’s remarks were also condemned by his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. “Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” the Skims CEO, 42, wrote via Twitter in October. “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.” Several other members of the famous family, including Khloé Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Kendall Jenner, also shared statements of support for the Jewish community via their respective Instagram Stories.
Kim filed for divorce from West in February 2021 after nearly seven years of marriage. The pair share four children — North, 9, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 3 — and their divorce was finalized on Tuesday, November 29, after more than a year of settlement discussions.
Days after his initial tweet sparked an uproar, West made an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, where he apologized to “the people that I hurt” with his comments — but added that he “absolutely” did not regret sharing the post in the first place.
“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,” he said at the time. “I was hurt.”
In the wake of the backlash, several brands that the “Jesus Walks” musician had worked with in the past publicly cut ties with him, including Balenciaga, Vogue, Gap and Adidas. CAA (Creative Artists Agency) also ended their relationship with the record producer. On October 25, Forbes estimated that West’s net worth fell from $1.5 billion to around $400 million after he lost his brand deals.
Amid his recent controversies, West announced on November 24 that he plans to run for president in the 2024 election. “Ye24,” he captioned a series of campaign ads shared via his Twitter account. He previously attempted running against Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
