The former billionaire hip-hop mogul who set global media ablaze last year with a multi-month spree of antisemitic and pro-Hitler statements apparently believed that his loud declarations of bigotry would propel him into the Oval Office.
In a new documentary from the BBC that aired Wednesday titled “The Trouble with KanYe,” Alex Klein offered new insights into why “Ye” (Kanye West) may have chosen his hateful path.
Ye was recently dropped by representation and sponsorship endorsing hate that included CAA, Balenciaga, MRC, JPMorgan Chase, Adidas, Peloton, Gap, Instagram, Twitter, and Footlocker. High profile athletes Jaylen Brown and Aaron Donald dropped Donda Sports as their representation. All have cut ties with the rapper.
Donda Academy in Simi Valley, California was shut down for the rest of the school year due to the antisemitic remarks.
Klein had worked with Ye on the “Donda” album, creating the rapper’s “Stem Player.” After the loud defenses of the Nazis, Klein chose to end the professional relationship, prompting a reaction of rage. Klein said that, “Kanye was very angry” and that “He was saying, ‘I feel like I wanna smack you,’ and ‘You’re exactly like the other Jews’—almost relishing and reveling in how offensive he could be, using these phrases hoping to hurt me.”
Klein asked Ye in the conversation, “Do you really think Jews are working together to hold you back?”
The musician, currently estimated to be worth $410 million after once reaching wealth as high as $2.5 billion, responded, “Yes, yes, I do, but it’s not even a statement that I need to take back because look at all the energy around me right now. Without that statement, I wouldn’t become president.”
Former president Donald Trump, who infamously dined with Ye and the white-nationalist podcaster Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago resort in November 2022, is leading the Republican presidential contest with 52.4% support. His closest rival, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis, trails at 21.5%.
Ye previously ran for president in 2020 as a third party candidate where he garnered 60,000 votes. He had planned to run again in 2024.
He made media appearances in the fall that caused a stir of controversy of his antisemitic remarks including Tucker Carlson Tonight, erstwhile network of Fox News, and Alex Jones’ InfoWars.
The rapper’s admiration for Adolf Hitler caused a stir in the media where it was reported that Ye wanted to name his latest album, “Hitler.”
Jones had claimed that he was shocked by the Ye’s admiration of the late dictator.
“There’s a real creepy factor with this Hitler stuff,” said Jones commenting to the New York Post. Ye denied the existence of the Holocaust.
Produced in association with Jewish News Syndicate