Kanye’s Back But Will The Public Forgive Him?

A child who misbehaves can be told to sit in a corner for a while, and come back after apologizing. But in a world with 15 million Jews, how should they react to a rapper with 31 million Twitter followers, who says he likes Hitler, loves Nazis and posted he would go “death con 3” on the Jewish people? How should the world react now that a friend has brought him back after a hiatus?

On Monday night in Rome, Italy, Travis Scott welcomed Kanye West, who goes by the name of Ye, to the stage, in his first performance since an antisemitic tirade caused him to lose his Adidas contract and made people think he needed to go away for a while.

There’s no close comparison for a major artist who has so openly spewed Jew hatred. Video showed Scott telling the crowd “there is no Travis Scott without Kanye West.”

A risky move for Scott? Maybe not. He’s promoting his new album “Utopia,” released on July 28. Ye, addicted to the drug of attention, had puzzling podcast performances earlier this year that culminated in his wearing an mask during an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in which he said he liked Hitler. In an infamous “Drink Champs” interview, he railed against the seemingly all-powerful “Jewish media” a phrased he used about 20 times.

America is a free country. Ku Klux Klan members are allowed to march. People are allowed to hate. But venues do not have to agree to contracts with musical artists they don’t feel will be good for business. Ye was one of the most popular performers on the planet. Is he still? How many of his followers care if he says hateful things?

This performance could give cover in two different ways. Other artists may feel free to bring Ye on stage, rationalizing that Scott did it and there were no repercussions. It seems unlikely that a major venue in America would give Ye the chance to have his own show right now, but it could happen in the future. I wouldn’t be surprised. When there is a flurry of inertia and people pile on, people like to act like they care and are doing the right thing. But when the fury dies down, we see what people really think.

The scary thing is we don’t really know what’s in people’s hearts. Could Ye fill Madison Square Garden or Cryto.com Arena in a week? Probably. Would the venues have any moral qualms, or would there be threats of boycotts? It’s hard to answer that.

We should not be stupid. Someone whose main thrill in life is to cause a circus is not likely to run out of tricks. There is no rational explanation for Ye’s anti-Jewish vitriol.. There is no excuse for his absurd and disgusting behavior. But our society rewards controversy and forgives many transgressions if a person has talent.

There will no doubt be a “sha-shtil” campaign by Jewish groups. The logic is as follows: The public will accept Ye back anyway, so why make a fuss?  Be quiet and all the problems will go away if we don’t make trouble.

This would be the wrong approach. Ye pushed the envelope to the edge of the table before he pushed it off. Should we pull out the chair for him and offer a cushion?

Perhaps there are those who feel if only he apologized, all would be well. I went to one of his concerts in Manhattan about seven years ago. He put on a great performance. Needless to say, I would never even go to any arena that hosts him now, in any capacity. We should not forget, and we should not forgive. When we reward fake apologies, we lose our own credibility.

In a drunk tirade 17 years ago Mel Gibson told a Los Angeles police officer that the Jews were “responsible for all the wars in the world” and also used an expletive regarding Jews.

Though Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” drew criticism from Jewish leaders, Gibson’s comment to the officer is nowhere near as bad as Ye’s prolonged monstrous campaign. How sad it is that 78 years after the Holocaust and World War II, a man with many millions of followers can say he likes Hitler and still be seen by young people as a hero.

America is the land of the free and the home of the brave…but is also the land of some cowards.

Those who display antisemitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, or show hatred to any minority group do so because of an emptiness inside, to garner attention, or both.

“Veahavta lerecha kamocha,” or “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself” is something many are unable to follow. What is the lesson that the youth of America see from Ye? You can say hateful things, and you may have to sit in a corner for a while, but if you can gather a crowd, you’ll still get a chance to get loud.

Is it a coincidence that Ye was recently allowed back on Twitter, which is now called X? Perhaps we should not trust people who can’t even agree on their own name or that of their company.  On a battlefield of words, lies and hate can sometimes pierce a shield of truth and love.

I am generally not a fan of cancelling anyone as we would hope that better ideas prevail in the marketplace and on an individual level, people can vote with their feet and their dollars. That’s what freedom of speech is all about. The hope is that people don’t reward hate. But what do we do when the reality is that they do? If someone tells you they have the answer to that question, you need not hook them up to a lie detector test.