Kanye West: The Great Jewish Unifier

In the weeks since news of megastar Kanye West’s antisemitism has dominated the headlines, I’ve learned a number of lessons. 

First, I’ve been reminded that wealth doesn’t guarantee health. According to Forbes, West’s deal with German apparel giant Adidas was worth $1.4 billion, rendering his former net worth before Adidas dropped him at $2 billion. Like many, I believe that West suffers from mental health challenges. But how is it possible that someone with billions (or hundreds of millions) of dollars still can’t access adequate mental health care? No, wealth does not guarantee health, whether mental or physical; sometimes, it’s up to an individual’s own choices. 

But there’s something else: Wealth is also not a guarantee of an enlightened mind. Bigotry, it seems, doesn’t discriminate based on class. And sometimes, the wealthier the person, the more he or she believes in the myth of immunity. Case in point: Before Adidas cut ties with West last week, he declared the following on Revolt TV’s “Drink Champs” podcast: “The thing about me and Adidas is I can literally say antisemitic s— and they can’t drop me. I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?” 

Worse, it was reported last week that West, who is one of the most successful artists of all time, reportedly wanted to name his album “Ye” after Adolf Hitler. A former West executive told CNN that the rapper “would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he was able to accumulate so much power and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi Party achieved for the German people.”

There you have it. A musical powerhouse who, as of two weeks ago, had a net worth of $2 billion, wanted to name an album after Hitler. You can’t put a dollar value on the virtues of wisdom and tolerance.

There you have it. A musical powerhouse who, as of two weeks ago, had a net worth of $2 billion, wanted to name an album after Hitler. You can’t put a dollar value on the virtues of wisdom and tolerance.

But in the past few weeks, I’ve also learned a lot about the virtues of sacrifice. MRC Entertainment, which has made a completed — yes, a completed  documentary about West — announced that it’s shelving the film. In an amazing statement that’s truly refreshing in its candor and bravery (especially for Hollywood), the company’s two CEOs and co-founders, as well as its CBO, wrote,

“Kanye is a producer and sampler of music. Last week he sampled and remixed a classic tune that has charted for over 3000 years – the lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain. This song was performed acapella in the time of the Pharaohs, Babylon and Rome, went acoustic with The Spanish Inquisition and Russia’s Pale of Settlement, and Hitler took the song electric. Kanye has now helped mainstream it in the modern era.”

Incidentally, in the statement, the heads of the film and television studio also identify themselves as “a Jew, a Muslim and a Christian,” and demand a balanced dialogue about Israel and the Palestinians. It’s not hard to imagine that the staff at MRC had worked tirelessly on the documentary. Perhaps this was the project that would have catapulted them into stardom in documentary filmmaking and guaranteed future success of their other films. And still, they shelved the project. Did I mention that the film cost $2 million to make and MRC hoped to generate distribution revenues of up to $10 million?

What a sacrifice on the part of MRC. But ironically, by not releasing the film, the company has still gained fame because it has made headlines worldwide, and its statement set a gold standard for unapologetic repudiation of Jew hatred. And while I’m grateful to Adidas for finally dropping West, its recent statement, on the other hand, made sure to note that the company would lose $246 million in net income in 2022 by cutting ties with the rapper. If that sounds like a lot, last year, Adidas earned over $24 billion. 

I don’t know what awaits West in the coming weeks and months. Nearly everyone has cut financial ties with him, including T.J. Maxx, which dropped his Yeezy clothing line (he’s used names such as “Yeezus” for his highly-acclaimed sixth studio album and has legally changed his name to “Ye”). I’d never vouch for an antisemite, but still, it would be jarring to have every single door closed in your face in the course of a week. 

And there’s a huge catch-22 to all of this: West has lost nearly all of his business ties because, among other hateful messages, he essentially told his 31 million Twitter followers that Jews control the world. Now that he’s persona non grata (I wouldn’t use the term, “canceled,” in his case), there are millions who now will believe that Jews actually do control the world because no one will work with West anymore. What a catch-22 indeed.

Perhaps the hardest lesson I’ve learned in the past few weeks is this: When you’re a Jew, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. 

But perhaps the hardest lesson I’ve learned in the past few weeks is this: When you’re a Jew, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. On October 29, CNN ran a story with this headline: “Kanye West’s Antisemitism Did What His Anti-Blackness Did Not. And Some People Have a Problem with That.” The author wrote, “It seemed to take West offending the Jewish community before his empire, which includes music, fashion and tennis shoes, began to crumble.” You can imagine the barrage of tweets from many others who’ve voiced the same grievance. Yes, West should have been dropped years ago, but these arguments are poison against Jews. 

Last week, West entered the Los Angeles corporate offices of Skechers “unannounced and uninvited,” according to the company, and was escorted off the premises after engaging in “unauthorized filming.” I don’t know where he’ll turn up next. But I know one thing: If Kanye West has a nervous breakdown, it’ll be blamed on the Jews. If he assaults someone or someone assaults him, it’ll be blamed on the Jews. And if he hurts himself, it’ll be blamed on the Jews. The fact that his business associates didn’t drop him earlier is certainly being blamed on the Jews. As author Damon Young said in the CNN story mentioned above, this “must mean that anti-Blackness didn’t move the needle, but antisemitism did.” G-d help us with such arguments. I can almost see the torch-bearing mobs as they approach us worldwide. 

At this point, I could make a joke that if West hurt himself (I hope he won’t), all hell would break loose if the world believed that Jews killed Yeezus. But everything I’ve mentioned above is extremely heavy, sobering and yes, dangerous. It’s a lot to take in, particularly for those of us who live in Los Angeles, where a group of well-known antisemites recently made Nazi salutes and hung a huge banner over the 405 freeway that read, “Kanye is right.” You know antisemitism poisons everyone when white supremacists convene to support a Black antisemite. 

As for Jews, we must double down in two ways: First, by emitting even more Jewish pride, especially with our children at home and on social media. And second, we must step up our Jewish actions, whether performing a mitzvah with extra joy and gratitude, giving a little extra to tzedakah, or learning a few lines of Torah each week. 

In fact, in last week’s Torah portion, we learned that Noah and his family survived a cataclysmic flood by essentially staying together. Perhaps it feels as though we’re struggling to stay afloat in a different kind of flood today — a flood of social media-amplified antisemitism that leaves us feeling angry and helpless. But I believe that we can hold on to one another as Jews. And ironically, it’s Kanye West who has proven to be one of the greatest unintentional unifiers of Jews in recent memory.

Tabby Refael is an award-winning LA-based writer, speaker and civic action activist. Follow her on Twitter @TabbyRefael.