Kanye West’s reported infatuation with Adolf Hitler led to him allegedly being sued by a former employee and eventually settling the lawsuit, which claimed Ye exalted the German tyrant during meetings.
Ye’s anti-Semetic rhetoric has gotten him in hot water recently. On Wednesday (Nov. 2), NBC News published a report revealing they’ve reviewed documents that show the polarizing Chicago rapper-designer was previously sued by a former employee who claims Ye would spew anti-Semitic speech at the workplace. This former employee claimed to have witnessed Ye praise Hitler and Nazis on more than one occasion. Ye reportedly settled the suit, but refuted the claims in the agreement.
In addition, NBC News reports six other people who have worked with Kanye West have also come forward with similar claims. One person is conceptual artist Ryder Ripps, a Jewish man who worked sporadically with Ye from 2014-2018.
“He had told me a bunch of shit about, like, how ‘Nazis are good at propaganda. Jews have codes.'” Ripps told NBC about an interaction with Ye in 2018.
“There is a line, and I think, like, he’s crossed,” Ripps added. “I genuinely think that he’s crossed it with his current actions and beyond just, like, this is offensive, like these words are offensive. Because I’ve seen an uptick of people, like, personally attacking me … like calling me a Jew on Instagram and Twitter … With this pattern that’s happening and with the doubling and tripling down of all this, it’s pretty obvious that this is some kind of disgusting, hate-filled, strange Nazi obsession.”
Another former employee speaking on the condition anonymity said Kanye told them Hitler “had some good qualities” and that “he wasn’t all bad,” during a meeting in 2018.
Last week, CNN published a report on Kanye’s alleged disturbing history of admiring Hitler. This comes on the heels of Kanye going on a month-long anti-Semitic run on social media and in interviews. Though he has apologized publicly, he is feeling the consequences of his actions, as several companies have cut ties with him over his hate speech.
XXL has reached out to Kanye West’s reps for comment.
