“Actually proving the exact point”: Kanye West addresses anti-Semitic controversy amid continued backlash

Kanye West has been in the headlines for a while due to various controversies stemming from his recent comments on the Drink Champs podcast. After massive backlash and losing a substantial amount of business, West has finally spoken up on the matter.

On Friday, October 21, while answering a few questions from reporters after his daughter North West's basketball game, Kanye claimed that the backlash only proved the point that he was trying to make all along. He said:

“I want to talk about the Jewish comment, it’s actually proving the exact point that I made. So many actors are being bullied behind the scenes. So you even got people like Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel asking people not to do business with me. That’s how this town has been running for so, so long. They’ll mute you, they’ll try to mute you at all costs.”

Kanye West's statement came after his Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson was leaked online. In the interview, he was heard sharing disturbing opinions about the Jewish community. Similar comments continued on The Shop, prompting producers of the talk show to not air the interview.

Ultimately, the rapper's statements on the Drink Champs podcast earned him a wide social media ban, with many corporations, including Balenciaga, severing ties with him.

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Kanye West responds to backlash, claims that being taken off Balenciaga was "freeing"

Kanye West recently received major criticism for his anti-Semitic views. While returning from his oldest daughter's basketball game on October 21, the rapper addressed the backlash he is facing in front a group of reporters waiting outside:

“I think people just try to score points, you know what I’m saying? Like sports agent and producer Maverick Carter had me go on HBO’s The Shop just to say, ‘We took him off the show.’ Then I go on Drink Champs, then they take it down. The day I was taken off the Balenciaga site was one of the most freeing days.”

While addressing how major corporations are cutting ties with him, West said:

"They never expected someone to have the platform....It's not that anyone's afraid, they're afraid of us not being afraid anymore and we're not afraid anymore."

During the interview, West also commented on the "White Lives Matter" t-shirt he sported at Paris Fashion week, which also earned him a lot of criticism:

"The audacity of me, as a black man to have a "White Lives Matter" t-shirt. I've seen white people wear "Black Lives Matter" t-shirts. So that's some audacity, right? It seems pretty one-sided if you really think about it."

When asked whether he believes if black-owned media will solve the problem of celebrities being "outcast," West replied:

"I believe at this point, we're all one. We're all one with the human race at this point.... We gotta get the truth before we can get the love, or else we're just loving the lies."

The rapper concluded by asserting that he refuses to be canceled.

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A quick look at some of Kanye West's controversial comments

Earlier this month, rap-veteran N.O.R.E., the host of the Drink Champs, invited Kanye West for what was his third appearance on the podcast. During the episode, West made a plethora of unfounded comments, one of them being that George Floyd was killed by a fentanyl overdose, rather than by the police.

Moreover, he also claimed that the "black voice" was predominantly owned by Jewish people because of the way all prominent black personalities are " being signed to a record label, or having a Jewish manager, or being signed to a Jewish basketball team, or doing a movie on a Jewish platform like Disney."

N.O.R.E. later issued an apology for allowing Kanye to make such statements on his podcast.

Kanye has also been on the radar of netizens due to his various statements at other interviews. One such interview was with Fox News, where Kanye West talked about how he would prefer that his kids know more about Hanukkah instead of Kwanzaa, because at least the Jewish holiday would teach them about “financial engineering.”

In the same interview, while speaking about Jared Kushner and his Jewish family, West also said:

“I just think that’s what they’re about, is making money.”

West said this in reference to Jared Kushner and his Jewish family.

Earlier this month, Kanye West came under fire for his “white lives matter” sweatshirt, which was a part of his fashion line at Paris Fashion Week.