Kanye West has been condemned for praising WWII dictator Adolf Hitler and going on an antisemitic rant during a shocking new interview.
The rapper, also known as Ye, made an appearance alongside white nationalist Nick Fuentes on far-right radio commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s Infowars talk show on Thursday.
After Jones claimed West didn’t “deserve” to be “demonised” by people calling him a Nazi, the hip-hop mogul stated that he sees “good things about Hitler also”.
West went on to claim that he “loves everyone” before launching into another antisemitic tirade.
“I am done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table – especially Hitler,” the father-of-four continued.
In response, many celebrities and leaders of Jewish organisations were quick to slam West.
In a tweet, Anti-Defamation League chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt described his comments as “vicious”.
“Saying you ‘like Hitler,’ ‘love the Nazis,’ and spending all your time with a white supremacist makes one thing clear: Ye is a vicious antisemite,” he wrote. “His comments today on InfoWars are not just vile and offensive: they put Jews in danger.”
Elsewhere, executives at the Republican Jewish Coalition noted that they “vehemently condemn” the 45-year-old and called on political leaders to “reject these messengers of hate”.
“Given his praise of Hitler, it can’t be overstated that Kanye West is a vile, repellent bigot who has targeted the Jewish community with threats and Nazi-style defamation,” they stated. “Conservatives who have mistakenly indulged Kanye West must make it clear that he is a pariah. Enough is enough.”
And actor Josh Gad criticised Twitter owner Elon Musk for allowing West to have an account.
“It’s not what Kanye West says that scares me. It’s that he has 30 million followers who listen to his insanity on top of a cheerleader in the form of the current owner of this platform,” he tweeted. “No one who says ‘I love Hitler’ should be allowed any oxygen on any social platform (period).”
Over the past two months, West has made a string of divisive and offensive comments about Jewish people on social media and during interviews.
Last month, bosses at Adidas severed ties with him and called off their Yeezy fashion partnership, while Creative Artists Agency (CAA) officials dropped him as a client.