Adidas announced it is terminating its partnership with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West after his antisemitic remarks calling for violence against Jewish people. According to its statement, Adidas will immediately “end production of Yeezy-branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.” This follows news that Ye plans to buy the conservative social media platform Parler, announced just days after he was kicked off Twitter and Instagram for his inflammatory rhetoric. While Ye and his followers claim they’re just practicing their right to speak freely, Straight Arrow News contributor Jordan Reid argues that hate speech doesn’t qualify as free speech.
I don’t care very much about Kanye West. I know he’s a brilliant musician, and I obviously know a bit about his personal life c/o the gossip columns and various Kardashian-related efforts, but none of his decisions have been especially impactful on me personally, apart from their entertainment value.
After all, just because someone is a celebrity doesn’t mean that they have a responsibility to shape their opinions to support the public welfare. You do you, dude.
Except, when said celebrity has a massive platform, legions of massively devoted fans and massively damaging opinions that threaten public safety in a very tangible, real way…don’t they? And when that person is very visibly in the throes of a major mental health crisis that seems to have ripped away any shreds of self-reflection or common sense…It’s not great.
I’m not going to repeat Kanye West’s most recent public statements, because amplification is not what this man needs – but suffice it to say that in their wake, Andrew Anglin, publisher of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website, hailed Ye as one of the greatest people to have lived since Jesus Christ, “or at least since Adolf Hitler.”
The deeply antisemitic statements also inspired celebrations and calls to action among various white supremacist and extremist groups online. And the Goyim Defense League – the organization that claimed responsibility for the antisemitic banners hung over a Los Angeles highway – is using Kanye’s comments to pit the Black community against Jewish people, whom they call “a universal enemy.”
Kanye West has more social media followers than there are Jews in the world. Amplification builds awareness builds momentum – a cause-and-effect sequence that doesn’t make exceptions for hate speech. Is the answer de-platforming individuals who use their reach to engender hatred and potentially inspire violence? I hate this question, because it’s an uncomfortable one…but in the case of Kanye West, the answer is, I think…yes.
