Sophia Michaels
The Kardashians are making their stance on antisemitism clear. On Monday, Kanye West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian shared a statement on her Instagram stories, denouncing his hateful words and the actions they have prompted, as she stood in solidarity with the Jewish community.
“Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” Kim wrote on Instagram, without directly naming West. “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”
Kris, Kendall, and Kylie Jenner, along with Khloe Kardashian, also voiced their support for the Jewish community, resharing a viral post from Jess Seinfeld that reads, “I support my Jewish friends and the Jewish people,” on their Instagram stories.
The posts from the Kardashians come as antisemitic groups — led by a “well-known neo-Nazi” — hung posters stating that West is “right about the Jews” and placed antisemitic propaganda in people’s mailboxes in Los Angeles over the weekend.
West has gone on several antisemitic rants in recent weeks. He first claimed Jews control Hollywood, and after he was banned from Instagram, the rapper upped the level of hate by tweeting that he was going “death con 3 on the Jewish people.”
West refused to apologize for the tweet in an interview with Chris Cuomo, and when Piers Morgan asked if he was sorry, West responded, “No… Absolutely not.” But later in the interview with Morgan, Kanye said, “I will say I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the Defcon [comment], the confusion that I caused. I felt like I caused hurt and confusion. And I’m sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I have been through.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), extremists “across the ideological spectrum” have praised West’s hateful rhetoric online and “used the opportunity to promote antisemitic claims and conspiracy theories.”
Along with his antisemitic tirade, he’s also taken aim at Kim — who filed for divorce from him in February 2021 — and her now ex-boyfriend, Pete Davidson, whom he described as a “heroin addict.”
“Kim is a Christian. On TMZ I just saw yesterday, it said, ‘Pete Davidson and Kim had sex by the fireplace to honor they grandmother.’ It’s Jewish Zionists that are about that life, that’s telling this Christian woman that has four Black children to put that out as a message in the media,” West claimed during an interview on the podcast Drink Champs. “So when I drive by and I see the Hulu ads and I see the JP [Morgan] ads, I’mma let y’all know right now, the devil is a defeated foe.”
In the aftermath of West’s offensive statements, CAA has officially cut ties with the rapper, as has Balenciaga as of last week. Adidas previously said the brand’s partnership with West was “under review” but has yet to give an update on the status of the working relationship.
