During an ubiquitous appearance on the program “Infowars”, hosted by conspiratorial presenter Alex Jones, the artist, who now calls himself Ye and wore a black balaclava covering his entire face, launched into a tirade on sin, pornography and the devil.
“I love Hitler”, launched the star several times.
Far from calming things down after his anti-Semitic remarks which prompted many brands, including the German giant Adidas, to cut ties with him, the rapper added another layer, triggering a deluge of condemnations on social networks.
In the process, Parler’s parent company, Parliament Technologies, announced that it was giving up on being bought out by the rap titan. A decision “taken in mid-November”, assured the company at the helm of this social network, very popular with ultra-conservatives for its defense of almost unlimited freedom of expression.
Kanye West initially announced his desire to buy Parler, after recent anti-Semitic comments made him a persona non grata in the business world and earned him deletions from his posts on Instagram and Twitter.
– “I love Nazis” –
On the set of “Infowars” Thursday, the 45-year-old rapper, who says he suffers from bipolar disorder and recently suggested he could run for president of the United States in 2024, redoubled his provocation.
“I see positive things about Hitler too,” he said. “This guy…invented the highways, invented the microphone that I use as a musician. You can’t publicly say that this person did anything good, and I’m sick of it.”
“I’m sick of labels, every human being has contributed something of value, especially Hitler,” he insisted, prompting shocked laughter from his host, far-right conspirator Alex Jones .
“The Nazis were thugs and did very bad things,” tried to correct Mr. Jones, recently sentenced to pay nearly a billion dollars for having denied the reality of a killing in a school.
“But they did good things too,” the rapper retorted. “We have to stop insulting Nazis all the time. (…) I love Nazis.”
In recent weeks, several members of his former professional entourage had denounced to the American media the fascination of Kanye West for Hitler.
– “Infamous and repulsive” –
Stuck in a series of controversies, Kanye West was dropped by the brands with which he collaborated. The sports equipment manufacturer Adidas notably cut ties with the rapper at the end of October because of remarks deemed anti-Semitic.
The ready-to-wear chain Gap and the fashion house Balenciaga have also turned their backs on him. In early October, the rapper displayed the slogan “White Lives Matter” during a parade in Paris, hijacking the name of the anti-racist movement “Black Lives Matter”.
On set Thursday, he appeared alongside white supremacist Nick Fuentes, with whom he attended a highly controversial dinner this week at the home of former US President Donald Trump.
Beyond the ire provoked on social networks, this new rapper scandal prompted the Republican Jewish Coalition to directly challenge his political friends on Thursday.
Close to the “Grand Old Party”, the organization, which recently received many Republican Party figures in Las Vegas, denounced Kanye West as a “vile and repugnant bigot who has targeted the Jewish community with threats and defamation worthy of the Nazis.
“Conservatives who made the mistake of tolerating Kanye West need to be clear that he is an outcast,” she added.
