Kanye West has announced that he is “done with antisemitism”, just weeks after releasing a song entitled Heil Hitler.
West, now known by the mononym ‘Ye’, has previously identified as a “Nazi”, been pictured in a t-shirt emblazoned with a swastika and praised the the leader of the Third Reich, as well as making a slew of antisemitic comments online.
And, earlier this month, he released the music video for his offensive new single, featuring a
group of African-American men draped in animal skins and standing in military-style rank formation.
West, providing a musical voiceover, repeats a number of lyrics, including “they don’t understand the things I say on Twitter, all my n****** Nazis, n***** Heil Hitler”.
After each bar, the group of men repeat the chorus: “N***** Heil Hitler, n***** Heil Hitler, all my n****** Nazis, n***** Heil Hitler.”
Since premiering the track online, West has been vocal in his criticism of music streaming platforms for refusing to host it.
However, the disgraced musician has now seemingly U-turned on the release, issuing a tweet this morning simply saying: “I am done with antisemitism.”
It is not clear whether he had made the decision in response to the shooting of two staffers at the Israeli embassy in Washington DC as they attended a Jewish event last night.
Yaron Lichinsky and Sarah Milgrim were gunned down by a man reportedly shouting “free Palestine”.
Police are questioning 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez in connection with the murders after he was arrested at the scene.
But this is not the first time that West has seemingly renounced antisemitism, only to relapse later on.
In February, he claimed that he was “not a Nazi” after labelling himself one in a series of antisemitic social media posts. Within weeks, he was selling copies of his swastika t-shirt on his official shop.
And last March he claimed that he “liked Jewish people again” after watching the film 21 Jump Street, which stars Jewish actor Jonah Hill.