Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the celebrities outraged by kanye-westBehavior of social networks. Over the weekend, the 45-year-old rapper Instagram and Twitter accounts faced restrictions after he posted antisemitic messages. Curtis, whose father was Jewish, visited the This day program on Monday and was visibly emotional when West’s tweets were mentioned.
“I woke up and started crying,” Curtis told Hoda Kotb. “What are you doing? It’s bad enough that fascism is on the rise all over the world, but on Twitter? On a portal to pour that out, like the Jews haven’t had it hard enough? … How?” If Asians haven’t had enough. I mean, it was just awful.”
Twitter removed West’s posts that read, “I’m a little sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m dying.” [sic] with 3 On the JEWISH PEOPLE… The funny thing is that I can’t actually be anti-Semitic because black people are Jews too… You guys have played me and tried to shade anyone who opposes your agenda.”
Kotb, who interviewed Curtis many times, noted that “I’ve never seen your eyes full of anger like that.”
“I woke up and… I thought [about] my grandparents,” Curtis replied. “It’s just abhorrent behavior, I hope he gets help. I hope his children receive help from him. It’s terrible.”
Curtis added, “And if we’re not reacting, who are we? What does that say about people who aren’t reacting?”
Many public figures reacted to West’s posts, including Sarah Silverman, jack antonoff and the former friend of rapper, John Legend.
The Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance (BJEA) spoke out against West’s comments in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment:
Ye’s recent statements about the Jewish community are hurtful, offensive and wrong. They perpetuate stereotypes that have been the basis of discrimination and violence against Jews for thousands of years. Words like this tear at the fabric of the relationship between Blacks and Jews.
The Black and Jewish communities must stand united in the face of incidents like this to make it clear that the peddling of hateful stereotypes is unacceptable, and that the words of one artist do not reflect the views of an entire community.
The Anti-Defamation League also responded.
West, who legally passes for Ye, has been defiant about his controversial beliefs as his “White Lives Matter” gimmick at Paris Fashion Week a week ago. With his social media platforms restricted, West took to YouTube on Monday to release a new vlog titled In the past week.
The 30-minute documentary previews a new West song with the lyrics, “You a fake bitch / You don’t really love Ye, go listen to Drake, bitch / You ain’t got no idea what it takes, bitch / Go listen.” to Lil Baby, go listen to Future, bitch.”
Another scene shows West meeting with Adidas over his strained association with the company. The session begins with the Grammy winner playing a pornographic video for the executives.
“Come on,” one of the men says, his face blurred, as he tries to get West to put the phone away.
West was apparently trying to make executives feel “extreme discomfort,” according to one of his team members, similar to the musician’s discomfort because he believes Adidas stole his ideas. Adidas, which began working with West in 2013, announced last week the company is reviewing its relationship with West. The meeting included in West’s vlog appears to have been three weeks ago, as the rapper’s Gap deal, which ended on September 15, is mentioned.
Another clue that the vlog is not from last week is the final scene with West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, as the two reunite to watch their daughter North West’s basketball game. Nevertheless, TMZ got footage from North’s game on Friday night and both stars are, most notably, wearing different outfits. West wore one of his “White Lives Matter” t-shirts most recently and was reportedly “snubbed” by Kardashian at the gym. The Kardashians The star has not publicly reacted to the recent controversy surrounding her former partner, but his family has intervened.
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