Major Businesses Urged to Sever Ties With Kanye West Amid Antisemitism Furor

Major Businesses Urged to Sever Ties With Kanye West Amid Antisemitism Furor

Jewish activists call on Adidas, Spotify, Apple and other businesses to drop partnerships with embattled rapper.

By Pesach Benson, United with Israel

Jewish activists are calling on major U.S. businesses to sever their ties with rapper Kanye West, who continues to be embattled by antisemitic rants.

Most prominent are the Anti-Defamation League and Ari Emanuel, CEO of the Endeavor talent and media agency.

West is under fire for antisemitic comments he made in an interview with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson and afterwards on social media and podcasts.

The rapper, who formally changed his name to Ye, told Carlson that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, brokered the Abraham accords “to make money.”

He also implied that that Blacks are the real Jews when he said “When I say Jew, I mean the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are. This is who our people are.”

In the aftermath of the interview, West claimed in an Instagram post that rapper and producer Sean “Puffy” Combs was controlled by Jews and blamed “Jewish Zionists” for unfavorable media coverage of his breakup with ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

West’s comments came to a head when he vowed to his 31.4 million Twitter followers that he would “go death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.” Twitter suspended the rapper’s account. Instagram has not suspended West’s account, but removed a number of posts.

In an op-ed published in the Financial Times on Wednesday, Emanuel insisted that “Apple (AAPL) and Spotify (SPOT), which host West’s music, whoever organizes West’s tours, and Adidas, which collaborates with West on his fashion line, should all stop working with him.”

Explaining why businesses should no longer profit off of West, Emanuel argued that “West is not just any person — he is a pop culture icon with millions of fans around the world. And among them are young people whose views are still being formed. This is why it is necessary for all of us to speak out. Hatred and anti-Semitism should have no place in our society, no matter how much money is at stake.”

West who is said to have a net worth of $2 billion, is also in negotiations to purchase Parler — a social network platform billed as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter for conservatives. Emanuel called on the parent company, Parlement Technologies Inc., to refuse to sell Parler.

West told Bloomberg News he became interested in buying Parler after Twitter suspended his account.

Emanuel called on business leaders to take a stand against West, and cited basketball star LeBron James as an example. James hosts a talk show called The Shop which is broadcast on YouTube. James, who is also a client of Emanuel, cancelled a previously taped interview with West.

“There should be no tolerance anywhere for West’s anti-Semitism. This is a moment in history where the stakes are high and being open about our values, and living them, is essential. Silence and inaction are not an option,” Emanuel wrote.

On Thursday, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt published an open letter to Adidas calling on the sportswear manufacturer to end its partnership with West.

According to Forbes, Adidas paid $220 million in royalties to West from sales of his Yeezy sneakers.

“We hope that more companies, individuals, and political leaders will take action to show that there will be consequences for such hateful rhetoric and that they do not give Ye’s antisemitism a pass,” Greenblatt wrote.

“This is why we are surprised and concerned that Adidas – a brand that supports inclusion and diversity – continues not only to support the Ye product line, but to release new products even as he continues to espouse hateful antisemitic ideas to his 31 million Twitter followers, and as those noxious ideas spread across social media and around the world thanks to his outsized media presence and celebrity status.”

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