Kanye West Praises Hitler And Nazis According To Ex-Employee

Another day, another bit of antisemitic controversy for Ye.

Source: WWD / Getty

Maybe it’s time we all consider the possibility that there never really was an “old Kanye.” Maybe it’s time we come to glory on the very real possibility that Ye has always been a big ball of antisemitic pastry with a thick layer of anti-Black cream on top. Maybe the only difference between “old Kanye” and “new Kanye” is the former knew not to fumble the bag or the career by opening up his big-and-bigoted mouth about Jewish people or alienate his Black audience by tap dancing for white conservatives. Better to be “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” Kanye and leave it at that.

According to court documents reviewed by NBC News, Ye’s recent tweets and remarks don’t represent his first Jewish-hate rodeo. The outlet reports that Ye paid a settlement to a former employee who alleged that he had used antisemitic language in the workplace.

They add that in addition, six people who have worked with Ye or witnessed him in professional settings over the past five years said they had heard him praise Adolf Hitler or mention conspiracy theories about Jewish people, adds NBC News. 

Three of them are former employees or collaborators, and they said they recalled multiple instances of Ye’s using antisemitic language. The three other people said they recalled a 2018 incident in which Ye went on an antisemitic tirade in an interview at TMZ’s offices.

Their accounts, as well as the settlement, suggest that Ye has used such language for years in more instances than previously known to the public, well before his recent antisemitic comments online and in interviews came to light, resulting in his losing a wave of business deals.

If this is true, I’m just going to go ahead and point out that weird Hitler praises are yet another thing Ye has in common with his partner in sambo-mance, Candace Owens.

Source: Jason Davis / Getty

Anyway, a conceptual artist named Ryder Ripps is one former colleague of Kanye who worked with him between 2014 and 2018 and said he remembers Ye often found positive things to say about Nazis and Hitler, and that he would rattle off anti-Jewish conspiracy theories sometimes. While Ripps said Ye’s opinions “didn’t seem that dangerous” at the time, new Kanye has apparently changed his tune in a non-musical way.

“This is dangerous and disgusting and actually violent,” Ripps said. “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.”

In the settlement agreement, Ye denied the allegations made by his ex-employee who claimed to witness multiple occasions during which Ye was a Hitler cheerleader who would have had a host of Nazi features on his “Hate-Oh-Hate & Heartbreak” album if left to his own devices. (I made some of that up.)

This all comes after CNN reported last Thursday that a business executive who worked for Ye had accused him of creating a hostile work environment through an “obsession” with Hitler and had received a settlement. NBC News has not confirmed the settlement, which appears to be separate from the case of the former employee who shared settlement documents with NBC News.

Come to think of it, it did seem like “Death con 3 to Jewish People” was a bit extreme for someone who was dipping his toe in the antisemitism pool for the first time. Again, maybe “old Kanye” “White Lives Matter” Kanye, and “I Heart Jewish Hate” Kanye are all just the same old Ye.

This latest bit of news amid Kanye showing support for Kyrie Irving amid his suspension for failing to disavow anti-semitism.