Kanye West and his actions/remarks are under extreme supervision. Recently there has been a “canceling” and controversy over his recent outbursts. After many anti-Semitic and racist remarks, Kanye, also known as Ye, has lost a large amount of his following and endorsement deals.
Ye recently said in a tweet, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also…”. He then followed up to say that Adidas can not drop him for what he was preaching which ultimately backfired for him.
Kanye has recently expressed extreme views and opinions on his wife, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Jewish community, which have all had very negative effects.
Ye’s recent comments, though, have crossed the line of antisemitism. As a result, questions of his character are coming to call as he has now severely overstepped the boundaries of edgy comments.
I conducted a questionnaire via Instagram in order to view my peers’ reaction to West’s recent actions.
One of my initial questions was, “Do you still support Kanye after what he said?” The replies varied but the majority of them were yes. The other answers consisted of several no’s and people just supporting his music career. One reply that stood out was leaning towards yes and it gave a fair input.
“I do because despite his comments he has previously said, he has the public platform that is given to him by the public…you also have to consider that he has an untreated mental illness…” the commenter said.
As known, West suffers from bipolar disorder, a mental illness that results in abrupt changes in moods, concentration, and energy. This raises the question on
Due to this question, many people are wondering if Kanye West should receive help or be faced with consequences by losing his main endorsements and support.
Even with a smaller scale of people surveyed, the answer seemed to be unclear as there were multiple different opinions.
One person said, “Yes because they do affect many people and is a racist remark.” While another person said “Maybe a couple but {not} his major ones like Adidas especially because since they are still selling his design.” Completely opposite of both opinions, another individual said “No [because] it is never that serious and [the] first amendment.”
Despite the variety of perspectives, I concluded that the majority of my pollster was not personally affected by Kanye’s comments.
When asked if the statements said affected people’s identity or cultures directly, almost 94% of the answers were no. In a small sample size of answers only 1 Jewish person felt personally attacked and other minorities and African Americans did not feel much discrimination from Kanye.

There are different factors for people’s thought processes as everyone sees the situation differently. People see new situations and new information that change every day, which can help formulate an opinion. This was clear when Balenciaga released a controversial ad, sexualizing children months after Ye lost their endorsement
This raises the discussion on what the difference is between inappropriate comments from a corporation and an individual. Racism/antisemitism and pedophilia are very different topics but they are both extremely controversial and hold some influence over the youth and the people.
Ye spoke out and attacked Balenciaga for exploiting children for money and stepping into the grounds of promoting child pornography. But when you get canceled and seen as mentally unstable, it is hard to be respected and heard among the world.
Shaun King, BLM activist, said, “In the midst of dangerous stupidity, bigotry, and misogyny he [West} might drop a nugget of truth.”
In the egregious comments said there was a slight moment of truth regarding the music industry before it got out of hand. At some point you have to decide when enough is enough, from what was observed, once the attacks on specific groups is when you stop supporting him.

Ye has been seen to have a very aggressive mood swings and rants which has been known for most of his career and attributes to his bipolar disorder.
All of the previous and possibly future information on Kanye’s outburst against religions or minority groups are still unacceptable no matter what he is diagnosed with.
Circling back to what Shaun King said, there is a small truth in his comments but it does not compensate for the insane takes that are said. The realization that he needs help from either peers/therapy/etc is a very realistic reality.
Mental illnesses and disabilities are never an excuse to justify racist and anti-Semitic remarks made, but it can better explain the mood swings and massive changes in behavior. Even though it is possible that Ye is mentally ill, it is not acceptable for the outbursts and recent statements about the Black and Jewish communities, especially as a very highly known and influential public figure.
With the light being shed on Kanye West’s actions, lets keep the same approach and thoughts for other celebrities, corporations, or anyone who says anything along the lines of racism and antisemitism.
We need to hold everyone to the same standard no matter their status and this situation should be seen as a catalyst to a revolution to do the right thing and make the world a better place.