(UPDATED: 10/19/22 AT 9:15 PM EST): Kanye West told Piers Morgan in a preview for an upcoming interview special that he does not regret his anti-Semitic tweets. “Are you sorry you said it?” Piers, 57, asked, as seen here. “No. Absolutely not,” Kanye replied. Piers pushed back, arguing with Kanye that his tweet, in which he declared to want to go “death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE”, is racist. “Yeah, that’s why I said it,” he declared.
(ORIGINAL STORY): After a week of controversy which kicked off with his “White Lives Matter” designs at Paris Fashion Week, Kanye West continued to incite outrage with an antisemitic tweet on Saturday. His remarks were met with backlash from stars like Sarah Silverman, and Jamie Lee Curtis, in addition to organizations like the Anti-Defamation League.
His original tweet warned that he was “going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE.” Ye struck a conspiratorial tone, adding, “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” The threatening tweet resulted in his account being locked for violating Twitter’s policies, according to a Twitter spokesperson who spoke to the media.
The Anti-Defamation League responded to the Yeezus rapper’s use of “anti-semitic tropes,” tweeting, “Power. Disloyalty. Greed. Deicide. Blood. Denial. Anti-Zionism. All of these are antisemitic tropes. Many of these myths have influenced @KanyeWest’s comments recently, and it’s dangerous.”
Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on twitter and it’s not even trending. Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) October 9, 2022
Prominent Jewish celebrities also used their platforms to call out Kanye’s hate. Sarah Silverman asked for solidarity, tweeting, “Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on twitter and it’s not even trending. Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud.”
Jamie Lee Curtis plead to Kanye for empathy, trying to explain how words incite real violence. “The holiest day in Judaism was last week,” the Knives Out star tweeted. “Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. You are a father. Please stop.” Jamie also spoke out during an October 10 appearance on the Today Show. “I burst into tears,” she told Hoda Kotb in part, as she drew a deep breath. “What are you doing?” she then asked Kanye in complete disbelief.
Comedian Michael Rappaport posted a video, where he called out “kooky” Kanye, and kicked himself for supporting the rapper in the past. He compared Ye’s words to Marjorie Taylor Green and the Charlottesville protestors, while reminding him that anti-semitism will never be “fashionable” or “appropriate.”
Ana Navarro made a mention of Kanye during a Monday discussion on The View about comments made by Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville, which have been criticized as racist. “This weekend for me was like ‘Pick a bigot’ weekend. It was like ‘National Weekend of Bigots,’ between he-whose-name-I-shall-not-mention, who was married to Kim Kardashian, and the lady in LA, who we’re going to talk about later cause she ain’t going to get off scot-free, and then this dude, Senator Tuberville, who has the IQ of a tuber, maybe a potato,” she said.
David Schwimmer also took to Instagram to share his own opinion about Kanye’s messages, in the post above. “Anti-semitism is on the rise globally. Jews make up only 2.4% of the population of the United States but are the victims of more than 60% of all religious hate crimes.* Whether or not Kanye West is mentally ill, there’s no question he is a bigot,” David wrote alongside a photo that had the word “bYe” in white text over a black background. “His hate speech calls for violence against Jews.”
“If you interpret his words any other way and defend him, guess what? You are racist,” he continued. “If we don’t call someone as influential as Kanye out for his divisive, ignorant and anti-semitic words then we are complicit. Silence is complicity.” David’s former Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston showed her own support by liking the message.
Kanye’s bigoted remarks started before his tweets. Instagram deleted a post he shared of text messages between himself and Diddy. In it, he claimed he would ‘show the Jews that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.
When the post was taken down, Kanye took his grievances to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg directly. He posted a photo of the pair and said, “Look at this Mark How you gone kick me off Instagram.”