Kanye West declared ‘Antisemite Of The Year’ by watchdog group

Kanye West has been named ‘Antisemite Of The Year’ by the watchdog group StopAntisemitism.

West earned the “dishonor” in a poll where he won thousands of votes. The non-profit organisation shared the results in a video posted to Twitter, where they recapped his anti-Semitic remarks made throughout the year. “Mazel Tov Kanye West for propagating the most Jew hatred in 2022 and winning this year’s dishonor,” they said.

“Kanye uses his celebrity platform to push dangerous antisemitic tropes about Jews and power and he refuses to stop,” StopAntisemitism’s Executive Director Liora Rez told TMZ. “His continuous onslaught of bigoted statements has resulted in horrific antisemitic acts perpetrated by white supremacists, Black Hebrew Israelites, and other fringe groups looking to cause Jews harm.

“Jew hatred is already out of control in the United States and the last thing we need is a celebrity like Kanye to add fuel to that fire.”

West’s spate of recent anti-Semitic comments began when he tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE” back in October. He was widely condemned by many figures in the entertainment world, as well as several political figures and organisations that represent Jewish communities. He later walked out of an interview in which he was challenged over his anti-Semitic sentiments. 

Even more controversially, he praised Hitler on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars podcast and later called for Jewish people to “forgive Hitler today”, while also denying that the Holocaust happened. Earlier this month, he tweeted an image of a swastika inside a Star of David.

West has had his social media accounts suspended multiple times – his Twitter account was banned three times in less than two months. Most recently, he was suspended from Clubhouse after claiming that Jewish people “are used by the Chinese” to control Black people, describing them as “just middlemen”.

He has also lost brand deals with Balenciaga, Adidas and Gap and had his honorary degree from The School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago rescinded.