I first tuned in to the anti-Semitic ravings of Kanye West or Ye in his October 2022 interview with Tucker Carlson. In the part of the interview Tucker chose to air, Jared Kushner’s promotion of peace between Israel and Arabs in the Abraham Accords was disparaged as self-interested in an evocative fashion. “I just think it was to make money,” Ye said. “Is that too heavy-handed to put on this platform?,” he asked.
The correct response to that question would have been some kind of objection, but Tucker framed it as a free-speech issue. “That’s your opinion, we’re not in the censorship business.”
However, he’s also in the opinion business. What was his opinion? My opinion was that it’s insane, at best, and other parts of the interview left on the cutting-floor tended to support my opinion. I thought it was wrong to accommodate Ye’s raving in silence.
Well, there was much more where that came from. The Times of Israel reviews Ye’s record of anti-Semitism in connection with Ye’s current apology to the Jewish community. The apology was posted on Instagram and rendered in Hebrew (below).
— ye (@kanyewest) December 26, 2023
TOI quotes a portion in English: “Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.” I don’t think Ye knows Hebrew, so he may have had some help from his marketing department. His new album — Vultures — is forthcoming on January 12. Was Ye projecting with that jab at Jared Kushner in October 2022?
The New York Times notes that on the album’s title track, Ye raps that he cannot be anti-Semitic because he had sex with a Jewish woman. I’m guessing “had sex with” is probably not how he puts it on the track. I wonder if the Times will follow up with a request for an op-ed column from the rapper to let him expand on his logic.
Variety gives us the apology as translated into English in full:
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions. It was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused. I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
Variety disses Ye’s apology as generic. It sounds like he’s apologizing “for any unintended outburst” he prompted from others, perhaps even from the likes of me. Maybe the apology loses something in translation. It sounds like a variation on “I’m sorry you feel that way,” a formulation that does in fact set me off — a generic nonapology. In good journalistic style I would like to add that Tucker Carlson could not be reached for comment, but that is a joke.
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