As Jews in the United States and around the world face a sharp increase in antisemitic acts, rapper Kanye West – no stranger to fomenting antisemitism through his words and his music – is again jumping on the bandwagon.
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In his 10-minute long rant at a listening party in Las Vegas early on the morning of December 15 for his new album, "Vultures," Kanye didn't hold back, claiming Zionist Jews own all the banks, hospitals and private schools in Los Angeles.
West accused those in the star-studded and star-adjacent crowd of about 1,000 people of “having your kids in that Zionist school.” He also ranted": “Who got the hospitals? These Zionists, ni**as. Jesus Christ, Hitler, Ye. Third party. Sponsor that. ... Bring your sponsorships to that. I don’t give a f*** ni**as. I don’t give a f*** about life or death, I got visitation with my kids. I ain’t got no say-so.”
He also appeared to compare Haredi Orthodox Jews to the pilgrims. "The motherf*****r pilgrims, it’s the Jewish ni**as, they dress the same, ni**a! It’s the same sh**...they put us in a school, the Rothschilds that did that …."
In another part of his rant, Kanye, who also goes by the moniker Ye, drastically inflated the number of Jews there are in the world.
“It’s 60 million of us in America, 60 million Jews in the world,” he said, though the world Jewish population for the current year stands at just over 15 million.
He also attacks former President Donald Trump, his co-parenting situation and his former business partners, and even invokes his daughter, North.
His fans expressed their love for his rant in comments on social media. "Kanye West spitting Facts for 15 minutes straight," read one; "This is the way the world works period," said another.
"He got a point tho. The Yews give us nothing free and yet they own 80% of everything. Our jobs, schools, entertainment, banks, media, and so on. In every area, we are charged a cost for services. We can own these same things if we unite," read another response.
West's rant came after he introduced his new album, "Vultures," and rapped for the audience.
Here again, Kanye could not stay away from singling out Jews: "I still keep some Jews with me. Management? Nah. I only let 'em do my jewelry."
The album has already raised Jewish hackles with other lyrics that take shots at Jews. “How I’m antisemitic? I just f***ed a Jewish bitch/I just f***ed Scooter’s bitch,” referencing Jewish record executive Scooter Braun.
Kanye's rant enraged Jewish superstar advocate Michael Rapaport who posted a rant of his own slamming Kanye, which he filmed while walking down an Israeli street. Rapaport, who starred in Prison Break and had a recurring role on Friends, is currently in Israel to show support for the Jewish state in the wake of the October 7 Hamas massacre and the ongoing Gaza war. He has visited the sites of the massacre, attended and spoke at rallies calling to bring home the hostages, and appeared on an "Eretz Nehederet" comedy sketch lampooning the answers of the presidents of three prestigious universities during a hearing on campus antisemitism in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In addition to calling the rapper a "washed-up fat pile of sh*t" and the new album a "brick," Rapaport invokes Kanye's mother who died in 2007.
"If your mother was still alive she would be embarrassed, you are an embarrassment to Donda (West)," Rapaport said.
This was a bridge too far for those who criticized Rapaport's social media post. "Why you talking about his mother?" read one of the milder criticisms. "Kanye's mom is dead. Stop trying to police black people," read another.
The Anti-Defamation League said in a post on the X platform: "As if we needed another reminder that Ye is a virulent antisemite... This long rant includes disgusting lies & conspiracy theories about Jews & Zionists. Ye has more followers on social media than there are Jews in the world (which is around 15M, not 60M, as Ye claims). He is dangerously spreading more hate at a time when antisemitic threats & violence are on the rise."
In October, Kanye made a series of antisemitic remarks in interviews that led to a halt in his lucrative collaboration with Adidas on the Yeezy sneakers brand, and a fallout with other companies.