Kanye West has been in hot water for months now due to online rants that were considered antisemitic. Now, one report is showing how those comments really affected the real world.
The report, which was released Monday by the Anti-Defamation League, documented at least 30 antisemitic incidents that directly reference Ye since October 2022. In that month he threatened to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” on Twitter. Shortly after his remarks, “Ye is Right” started popping up online in hashtags and antisemitic accounts.
The Influence of Kanye West In Real Life
Examples of the incidents include “vandalism, banner drops, targeted harassment, and campus propaganda distributions.” Several reports of graffiti read “Kanye is right,” sometimes accompanied by swastikas. The messages were often found on headstones at Jewish cemeteries, orthodox synagogues in the Bronx, and bridges in Massachusetts, among other locations. There were also reports of Jewish people being harassed by individuals who expressed support for Kanye.
White supremacist groups organized a series of “Ye is right, change my mind” events. At these events, members defend the artist’s remarks by using Holocaust denial and Hitler praises to justify them. The first of these events took place at Florida Atlantic University on Jan. 18, 2023. It also was public support of Kanye’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Kanye West Impact Online
According to the report, there were more than 9,400 Tweets using or referring to the “Ye is Right” slogan. The tweets gained more than 19,300 likes and 5,000 retweets.
Top URLs shared by Twitter users who referenced “Ye is Right,” and showed support for his campaign, include links to extremist video streaming sites. There would also be links to online stores for unofficial YE24 merchandise and a Google Forms survey that aims “to collect contact information of college students supporting Ye.”