After months of vehemently denouncing Jews on social media, American hip-hop superstar Kanye West is attempting to mend fences with his Jewish followers in the spirit of the holiday season.
The rapper, who is now officially known as Ye, apologized in Hebrew lettering on his Instagram profile on Tuesday, Boxing Day.
Ye has been sharing his divisive views about the Jewish community through interviews and his social media platforms since 2022.
In one of the tweets that led to Twitter restricting his account, the rapper wrote, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up, I’ll go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I can’t be anti-semitic because black people are Jewish also. You people toyed with me and tried to blackball whoever opposes your agenda.”
Later, Kanye said that he intended for the tweet to read “Defcon 3.” The US military has a system of alerts known as Defense Readiness Condition (Defcon), which has five degrees of readiness, level one being the highest. An “Increase in force readiness above normal readiness” is referred to as Defcon level 3.
In an October 2022 interview with Piers Morgan, Ye apologized, saying he believed “it’s wrong to hold an apology hostage.”
His subsequent tirades on several other platforms resulted in varying degrees of limitation on his social media accounts, thus this apology did not stick. His multimillion-dollar agreement with apparel company Adidas was terminated in October 2022, marking his worst setback in the narrative.
West has been laying low since the huge loss which dragged him out of the Forbes billionaire’s list. However, the rapper is ready to make a comeback with a new album titled “Vultures”.
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The rapper held a livestream listening session for the album in early December; interestingly, some of the lyrics seemed to double down on his 2022 rants.
“How am I antisemitic? I just fucked a Jewish bi**h,” the father-of-four rapped in one of the songs.
In another song, the rapper said, “I still keep some Jews with me / Management? / Nah, I only let ’em do my jewellery.”
At the physical listening session held in Las Vegas, West got into another round of expletive-filled rants which seemed to blame Jews for America’s woes.
“American is just the latest bi*h that has been running through so many times. The Greeks hit her, we had her, the Indians and sh. The motherf*er pilgrims, it’s the Jewish nias, they dress the same, nia! It’s the same sh*.
“Who got the hospitals? These zionists, ni**s. Jesus Christ, Hitler, Ye. Third party. Sponsor that. … Bring your sponsorships to that,” he said. “I don’t give a fk ni*s. I don’t give a f*k about life or death.”
Weeks after the livestream, West tendered his apology for any “unintended outburst” caused by his rants at the event.
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any “unintended outburst” caused by my words or actions,” the Hebrew text read.
“It was not my intention to hurt or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused. I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding In the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
Although West has not yet made the new album’s release date public, a representative for the record company informed Billboard that it would probably be released on January 31, 2024, despite many delays.
