Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has dominated headlines these last weeks for all the wrong reasons. Now, according to The Independent, The Holocaust Museum of Los Angeles “has been flooded with abuse since it invited the rapper to visit amid his antisemitism controversy.”
Ye is no stranger to controversy, and that’s putting it very lightly.
On the tame end of the spectrum, he rudely interrupted Taylor Swift’s victory speech at the VMAs in 2009. As the years elapsed, his actions became more and more outrageous. In 2018, he raised eyebrows after he told TMZ, “when you hear about slavery for 400 years- that sounds like a choice.” Ye also went on to ally himself with Donald Trump and later, Candace Owens; raising even more eyebrows.
The rapper’s antisemitism brought the lion’s share of the consequences, which some argue were overdue. Brands like Balenciaga and Adidas severed ties. Skechers executives recently threw Ye out of their headquarters, and made sure to inform the public that they had no desire to work with him.
Why Did The Museum Invite Ye?
The museum’s CEO, Beth Kean, offered the tour “in the hope it would change the disgraced rapper’s mind.”
The true catalyst for change, she believes, is education.
The museum tweeted on October 13, “Ye, since we invited you to visit us at Holocaust Museum LA we have received a tremendous amount of social media messages and comments…some filled with hate, threats, and vitriol. Others were saddled with hurt and yearned for further discourse.”
How Did Kanye Respond To The Invitation?
According to Hip Hop Hero, “Kanye publicly rejected the tour offer when he appeared on the Drink Champs Podcast and claimed that he considered Planned Parenthood as his Holocaust Museum. Ever since the invitation from the museum, Kean said that it had been the victim of several vitriolic messages.”
With Freedom Of Speech Comes Consequences
Ye learned very quickly that he doesn’t live in a bubble. When you have an enormous platform, your words hold weight.
Not long after his remarks, a Nazi group in Los Angeles displayed a sign over a freeway which said, “Kanye was right about the Jews.”
Ms Kean said, “I think Kanye has more than double the amount of Twitter followers than there are Jews living in this world.”
“People like Kanye have a huge platform, he has over 30m Twitter followers and he needs to understand that he needs to use his words to inspire. Not incite and perpetuate hate, lies and antisemitism.”
Everybody Has Something To Say Following Ye's Remarks
This issue has set Twitter ablaze, even though Ye can no longer post there.
Jamie Lee Curtis tweeted, “the holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop.”
Ye’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, said, “hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”
How Have Non-Jewish People Reacted?
There’s also been a debate on Twitter about the response of non-Jewish people.
Sarah Silverman tweeted, “Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on twitter and it’s not even trending. Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud.”
To this, users like @LavaBlue22 shot back, “Sarah, stop it. Black women have been ringing the alarm about Kanye for years when he attacked us but YOU stayed quiet.”