Kanye West claims he was drunk when he made his inflammatory antisemitic comments on Twitter (X) in 2022.
In an old interview with conservative Candace Owens that just surfaced on Wednesday (August 7), West said, “I definitely was drinking when I put up the Death Con tweet. You wanna know what alcohol I had inside me? Hennessy.” He went on to say it made him “gray” and quickly brought out his inner demons. But interestingly enough, when Owens asked why he didn’t just divulge that information when the backlash began, he said he didn’t want his words discredited.
Ye (Kanye West) talks about why he called out Jewish people in the entertainment industry with Candace Owens on YouTube.
“People gotta put some respect on the fact that I’m actually brave enough to say this out loud.” pic.twitter.com/LbtDYxyPow
— Gabriel (@GeeFromNY) August 7, 2024
West’s first offensive tweet about the Jewish community arrived in October 2022. He tweeted in part, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” But that was just the beginning. He then went on to make a series of antisemitic comments in interviews, which were widely condemned as harmful. During an interview with InfoWars, he praised Adolf Hitler, sparking even more outrage.
During Paris Fashion Week, West wore a shirt with the slogan “White Lives Matter,” which many perceived as a provocative and insensitive response to the Black Lives Matter movement. His erratic behavior on social media, including targeted harassment of individuals and spreading misinformation, further alienated many fans and public figures.
West ultimately issued a half-baked apology, written in Hebrew, in December 2023 via Instagram. He wrote: “I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, 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.”
Kanye West also asked for forgiveness, claiming it is “important” to him and that he wants to make amends and promote unity. But most people didn’t buy it, including Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg. He assumed he was only apologizing because he was about to drop the first installment of Vultures with Ty Dolla $ign.
“I thought, ‘I wonder what the sample is that Kanye needs to try to clear before Friday,'” Rosenberg said. “We all know Kanye notoriously is late with handling album stuff. I just wonder whether there was something getting held up. And someone said, ‘Hey, this sample does not get cleared if he does not issue an apology.’ Like you guys said, he just goes on chat GPT and boom we get a quote apology.”
He added, “No part of me believes this apology. I totally agree by the way that the Hebrew part was like so, either intentionally or unintentionally, offensive. As if American Jews can just read Hebrew without vowels. Like bro, it’s just another offensive thing here.”
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign just released the second installment of Vultures. It’s expected to debut at No. 2 with around 68,000 units sold in its opening week. Taylor Swift will once again take the top spot.