Howard Stern slammed Kanye West for doubling down on his anti-Semitic remarks, saying he is “absolutely not” sorry for making them.
via Page Six:
“You gotta hear the s—t this guy’s into,” the radio show host said during his SiriusXM show on Wednesday. “Kanye used to be fun crazy. Now he’s like Hitler.”
“I’m really tired of people excusing his behavior by saying ‘Well he’s just mentally ill’.”
Stern — who grew up Jewish — also criticized West’s claims that “the Jewish media” have stopped giving him coverage, saying, “If a newspaper article doesn’t point out the fact that you’re some sort of designer or genius, maybe that’s not because they’re Jewish, but maybe because they just don’t put that much thought into who the f–k you are and what your business is.”
West, 45, got into hot water last week when he vowed to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” in a since-deleted tweet.
When asked about his disturbing post in an interview with Piers Morgan, the “Heartless” rapper revealed that he knew his comments were racist — yet he still stood by them.
“Are you sorry you said it?” Morgan, 57, asked, to which the rapper quipped, “No. Absolutely not.”
The British broadcaster went on to say West “should” be sorry for his racist remarks that were “as racist as anything you say you’ve been through and any pain you’ve experienced.” Yet West did not object and instead claimed that was “why” he said it.
“I fought fire with fire. I’m not here to get hosed down. That’s a different type of freedom fighter,” he argued.
While some people have cited West’s obvious mental health issues as reasons to go easy on the rapper, Stern — and other media moguls — aren’t willing to let Ye’s comments slide.
This notion was dittoed by media executive Ari Emanuel who said West’s mental health issues does not give him a free pass to spread anti-Semitism.
“Some of West’s behavior has been dismissed over time, citing mental illness, given that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after being hospitalized in 2016,” the Endeavor CEO wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Times on Wednesday. “However, mental illness is not an excuse for racism, hatred or anti-Semitism.”
Emanuel, who is Jewish, continued, “Millions of people affected by mental illness do not perpetuate hateful ideologies. Others brush his comments off as just words, but hateful words far too easily become hateful actions.”
He then called on companies — who haven’t already cut ties with the rapper — to stop selling all Yeezy products and streaming West’s music in an effort to stop the spread of hate “no matter how much money is at stake.”
Several other celebrities such as John Legend, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Morgan Spectorhave spoken out against the rapper — who is said to be in the midst of a psychiatric episode.
West’s media tirade started earlier this month when the rapper chose to have his models wear “White Lives Matter” t-shirts during Paris Fashion Week.
We can’t believe we’re agreeing with Howard Stern.
