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Topics: Kanye West, Racism, World News, US News
Daisy Phillipson
Topics: Kanye West, Racism, World News, US News
It'll come as no surprise to most that Kanye West has been named the 'Antisemite of the Year' after receiving the most votes for the title.
Each year, StopAntisemitism – an American non-profit organization focused on combating hostility towards Jewish people – holds the contest to highlight 10 individuals who have displayed antisemitism over the past 12 months.
The aim is to hold them accountable and bring attention to their hateful activities and ideas.
After the online poll received nearly 10,000 votes, it was revealed today (December 11) that the majority went to the rapper, who has been at the center of numerous controversies in recent weeks.
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West, who officially changed his name to Ye, was dumped by many of his brands including Adidas and Balenciaga in October and November respectively following antisemitic remarks he made.
He was also kicked off Twitter after sharing a post in which he said he'd go 'death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE'.
Although Elon Musk reinstated Ye's account following his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform, the rapper's account was once again suspended after he tweeted a picture of a swastika combined with the Star of David, the symbol of the Jewish faith.
Ye continued to defend his comments in various interviews, including a bizarre appearance on Alex Jones' InfoWars earlier this month where he said he sees 'good things' about Adolf Hitler.
And in a more recent interview with Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, the disgraced rapper lashed out at Jewish people for struggling to move on from the Holocaust.
"You can’t force your pain on everyone else," the 45-year-old told the fascist group leader. "Jewish people, forgive Hitler today."
Given the recent events, it'll probably come as no surprise that Ye won the title 'Antisemite of the Year'.
Speaking about the outcome, Liora Rez, StopAntisemitism's executive director, told TMZ: "Kanye uses his celebrity platform to push dangerous antisemitic tropes about Jews and power and he refuses to stop.
"His continuous onslaught of bigoted statements has resulted in horrific antisemitic acts perpetrated by white supremacists, Black Hebrew Israelites and other fringe groups looking to cause Jews harm.
"Jew hatred is already out of control in the United States and the last thing we need is a celebrity like Kanye to add fuel to that fire."
Ye beat out competition from Mohamed Hadid, a real estate developer and father to models Bella and Gigi Hadid.
The organization described him as a 'fanatic Jew hater', adding: "Hadid recently navigated from Israel-bashing to promoting Nazi-like conspiracy theories of Jewish power when he openly stated, 'Israel and the Jews control the media.'"
Also in the top three was Jon Minadeo II, leader of the white supremacist group Goyim Defense League (GDL), which operates GoyimTV, a video platform that streams antisemitic content.
StopAntisemitism states: "Minadeo organizes and directs his followers to drop thousands of antisemitic flyers across America blaming everything on Jews, from 9/11 to COVID to the war in Ukraine."
As for West, it's yet another nail in the rapper's coffin as far as his career goes, as it's not really easy to make a comeback after earning such a title.