Kanye West targeted by US justice system for anti-Semitic comments

“The Jews are after me” and “The Jews want my money,” West said to employees. This emerges from the lawsuit filed by his former employee Trevor Phillips on Tuesday in California. During a meal at an expensive restaurant, the rapper, who has spoken openly about his mental health problems in the past, described Adolf Hitler as “great.” “He invented so many things. It’s thanks to him that we have cars,” West is said to have said, possibly echoing the legend that Hitler invented the highways. In fact, most of the plans for building the highways came from the Weimar era.

“These messages have no place in the world”

Phillips also described that West regularly yelled at all-black employees. “Kanye also forbade his employees from being fat,” the indictment says. He told two children at a school he founded to shave their heads and threatened to lock them in cages.

Phillips, who worked for West’s fashion brand and a school he founded for almost a year, is demanding $35,000 (32,500 euros) in damages. “We hope (…) that West understands that his messages, which in our view preach discrimination, anti-Semitism and love for Hitler, have no place in the world,” emphasized his lawyer Carney Shegerian.

Threats against Jews

At the end of last year – shortly before the release of his new album – Kanye West apologized for anti-Semitic statements in the past. The rapper, who has renamed himself Ye, wrote in Hebrew on the online platform Instagram that he wanted to “learn” from this experience and be more sensitive and understanding in the future. At that point, his failures were more than a year ago.

• Also read: Kanye West apologized to Jewish community

In October 2022, Kanye West made threats against Jews on the online service X (then Twitter). He was then banned from the online service. The German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas and other companies also ended their collaboration with the rapper. A few weeks later, West, who confessed to having bipolar disorder, said in an interview that he liked Hitler and “loved Nazis.”