Kanye West told a Jewish Adidas manager to kiss a photo of Hitler "every day"
A bombshell new report from the New York Times also discusses how the rapper (now known as Ye) would throw shoes and make staffers watch porn during meetings
Last October, Adidas finally dropped their long-term partner Kanye West after the rapper made a slew of antisemitic comments (among other things). This was despite the fact that Yeezy, their sneaker partnership, was netting the company over $1 billion annually. For many staffers, it was too little, too late. While Adidas employees have come forward with allegations of exceedingly bad behavior from the rapper (now known as Ye) in the past, a lengthy new report from The New York Times delves deeper into the decade-long collaboration than any have before. What it found is stomach-churning.
Apparently, employees were confronted with West’s rampant antisemitism as soon as their very first pitch meeting with the rapper. After reviewing a number of unsatisfactory fabric swatches and shoe designs, West allegedly grabbed one of the sketches and drew a swastika on the toe to convey his dislike of the sneaker. It only got worse from there.
As Ye ramped up his antisemitism in public last fall, he also doubled down behind the scenes. Employees reported that West repeatedly commended Hitler for his use of propaganda, calling the genocidal dictator a “marketing master” and saying he planned to name his next album after him. (It was eventually titled Ye.) Most egregiously, West apparently told TMZ that “it was important to love everyone, including Nazis” in the same interview in which he infamously said that slavery “sounds like a choice.” Back in the office, West stood by that statement, telling Jon Wexler, a Jewish Adidas executive, to “hang a photo of Hitler in his kitchen and kiss it every day to practice unconditional love.”
read more: https://www.avclub.com/kanye-west-adidas-yeezy-new-york-time-report-1850968306
archive link: https://archive.ph/RWHHH
I'm not going to get into my history here but I've spent years in and out of institutions. If you want to make the argument that this is schizoaffective disorder I won't stop you, but I assure you that even if that is the case, we are still completely responsible for what we say, and I would argue even moreso because there is zero excuse for him not to be seeking care and treatment.
When grandma has dementia, and spits and bites, she is still responsible for the consequences of her actions. We will treat her with kindness and compassion and health care, but she isn't absolved of her part in hurting someone. That is the notion I rebel against. You are still responsible for your racism. You are not given a consequence free card because of your illness. Advocating for a consequence free environment is why people can claim Kanye should be forgiven and should not be treated as an intelligent, thinking, feeling human being. I will not allow someone to say he should be. That is dehumanizing and ultimately the opposite of kindness.
To quote my favorite podcaster, "mental illness is not your FAULT, but it is your RESPONSIBILITY."
Precisely! I feel like taking away our responsibility also takes away our agency. I hate when people have their agency restricted.
There's a reason AA and NA and other peer recovery services make people take responsibility for what they've done, even if it was illness that "made" them do those things. Because having responsibility for what you've done is ultimately what frees you to have responsibility for the good that you can do. I love that for us, for all of humanity.
@flicker I think we may be talking at cross purposes here.
I am simply advocating for non violent mental health treatment for all who need it.
I don't follow Kanye West closely so I don't know what his issue is or whether his expressed views are products of his own mind or malfunctions. My comments are not about him, they are about the absurd generalizations about mental health I am seeing in here.
I have had loved ones with Schizophrenia and no, they absolutely should not be "held accountable" let alone physically assaulted for the content of their delusions. That's just not how it works.
Sweeping generalisations about all mental illness are not helpful, particularly when we have a long and fairly recent history in our societies of violent abuse of such people.
I'm not going to argue about this any more. Thank you for the discussion.
Good deal! Have a great day!
@flicker you too, friend! Sorry if I came across as grumpy or defensive before. I appreciate that you took time to talk to me.
I didn't read it as grumpy or defensive! One thing I miss about a more civilized age... people were allowed to "argue." You could fight it out, have opinions, everyone could be right at the same time (and wrong, too) but the ability to converse seems to be lost.
We're all made better by these things! Even if it seems to get heating. Being able to talk (and disagree!) Sharpens our understanding of our topics, helps us work through and solidify our feelings and opinions, and (assuming everyone is speaking in good faith, which is a big ask on the internet) we are all made better for it!
I said good deal because it is! I called you friend cuz we are! I said have a good day because I hope you do!
We part as friends! We aren't enemies even if we may seem at odds. Take care of yourself. You're a person who deserves happiness and kindness in life.
@flicker thanks, you too!
I agree with you, being able to dialogue through disagreements is really important.
When I was younger I used to discuss politics a lot online, and one of the things I discovered is that many people on the "opposite" part of the political spectrum in my country want the same basic outcomes I do (stuff like fairness) - they just disagree on how to achieve it. That really helped me to see everyone as people like me not weird/scary/strange.
You're a familiar "face" to me here on kbin so it's nice that we have talked a bit!