Kanye West’s hateful rhetoric got him restricted on Instagram and Twitter

 

Jack Antonoff, Lizzo, John Legend. PHOTO: FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES; AARON J. THORNTON/GETTY IMAGES; CRAIG BARRITT/GETTY IMAGES

Stars like John Legend, Lizzo, Jack Antonoff and more are speaking out against Kanye West’s recent bullying and antisemitic comments.

The stars are among a handful of celebrities publicly criticizing the 45-year-old rapper, who had his Instagram and Twitter accounts restricted after he threatened to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”

Legend did not mention his former friend by name, but alluded to the comments on Twitter, writing, “Weird how all these “free, independent thinkers” always land at the same old anti blackness and anti semitism.”

Antonoff, meanwhile, was more straightforward, calling West “a little bitch” on Twitter.

Famed songwriter Diane Warren also did not mince words, and expressed frustration over the fact that the Donda rapper still has business connections.

“Strange U ever see #StopJewishHate trending when we are attacked. Ps f— U Kanye,” she wrote on Twitter. “Also a little reminder Kanye, using the word death and Jews in the same sentence when 6,000,000 Jews were murdered, 2 out of 3 European Jews, is vile abhorrent and irresponsible+ U [should] be banned for life everywhere. Let’s see if all these corporations doing business with anti Semitic f—tard Kanye drop him. Naaa no one makes a big deal when it’s Jews under attack.”

Comedian Sarah Silverman also aired her grievances with the situation, writing on Twitter that she was frustrated by the fact that West’s comments did not seem to be garnering significant condemnation from others.

“Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on twitter and it’s not even trending,” she wrote. “Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud.”

Maria Shriver expressed similar thoughts, writing on Twitter: “We all need to get onto it. Those kind of threats and that kind of language need to be condemned by all sides and all faiths. We should never get over something like this.”

Director Rob Reiner called West “a mentally ill anti-semite,” while actor Josh Gad weighed in on an interview with conservative influencer Candace Owens in which she claimed West’s comments were not antisemitic.

“It’s incredible how many people can just casually break down the barriers between what should be a very obvious “this is not okay” comment to “Death-con 3 against Jews’ is so not anti-Semitic,” Gad wrote on Twitter.

The Frozen star also retweeted a decade-old message from Pink that called West “the biggest piece of s— on this earth.” The singer originally tweeted during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on the night that West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for best female video.

“Thirteen years later, it’s aged like the finest of wines. Love you @Pink,” Gad wrote.

Actor Michael Rapaport shared a short video clip to Twitter in which he slammed West’s comments, calling them “unacceptable.”

“I defended you when “Pistol” Pete Davidson was sugar-d—ing your wife. But this is unacceptable, okay?” he said. “You creep, you. You’re not going to be president. I know you think you’re going to manifest it, you’re never… I’m gonna be the one to tell you, to break the heart of your dream. You’re never gonna be president, you prick, you.”

Friends star David Schwimmer called West “a bigot” on Instagram, and shared statistics indicating anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world.

“Anti-semitism is on the rise globally. Jews make up only 2.4% of the population of the United States but are the victims of more than 60% of all religious hate crimes,” he wrote, citing an FBI annual report. “Whether or not Kanye West is mentally ill, there’s no question he is a bigot. His hate speech calls for violence against Jews. If you interpret his words any other way and defend him, guess what? You are racist. If we don’t call someone as influential as Kanye out for his divisive, ignorant and anti-semitic words then we are complicit. Silence is complicity.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also weighed in, writing on Twitter that “we must reject this [garbage] wherever we see it.”

“There is absolutely no room in this country or world for antisemitism,” she wrote. “It is important to see how harmful + dangerous Kanye’s words are – not only to our Jewish brothers, sisters, & siblings, but also to our collective society at large.”

Jamie Lee Curtis discussed West’s rhetoric on the Today show in an emotional clip that was re-shared to Instagram by Ariana Grande.

“I mean, it’s bad enough that fascism is on the rise around the world,” Curtis said. “But on Twitter, on a portal, to pour that in? As if Jewish people haven’t had it hard enough?”

The actress — whose father, late actor Tony Curtis, was the son of Hungarian-Jewish emigrants — said she “woke up and I thought, ‘My grandparents?’ ” upon reading West’s post.

“It’s just abhorrent. It’s abhorrent behavior. I hope he gets help. I hope his children get help from him. It’s terrible,” she continued, through tears.

For Lizzo, West’s bullying comments were personal, as he mentioned her during an appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.

“When Lizzo loses 10 pounds and announces it, the bots — that’s a term for like telemarketer callers on Instagram — they attack her for losing weight, because the media wants to put out a perception that being overweight is the new goal when it’s actually unhealthy,” he said.

“Let’s get aside the fact of whether it’s fashion and vogue, which is not. Or if someone thinks is attractive, to each his own,” West added. “It’s actually clinically unhealthy, and for people to, to promote that… it’s demonic.”

When Carlson, 53, asked why those body types are supposedly perpetuated, West responded: “It’s a genocide of the Black race. They want to kill us in any way they can.”

The “About Damn Time” singer appeared to reference the comments during a concert on Friday night in which she spoke out against people insulting her “for no motherf—ing reason,” according to a video obtained by TMZ.

“I feel like everybody in America got my motherf—ing name in their motherf—ing mouth for no mother—ing reason. I’m minding my fat, Black, beautiful business!” Lizzo said in the clip, which was filmed in Toronto.

She also asked the crowd if she could take refuge in the Great White North and even took a shot at finding a Canadian spouse for dual citizenship, to which the audience responded with cheers and laughter.

In light of his comments, West’s Instagram profile was restricted, which prompted him to move to Twitter. He had another post on the platform taken down due to its hateful rhetoric.

In a since-deleted post from Friday, West shared a screenshot of a text exchange between himself and Diddy, which allegedly appeared to show West claiming that Combs was controlled by Jewish people. “Jesus is Jew,” he wrote in the caption, reported NBC News.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) on Friday called out West’s language for perpetuating “antisemitic tropes like greed and control,” writing in a statement: “Kanye West should figure out how to make a point without using antisemitism. Over the last week, the musician has fomented hatred of Jews.”

West later had a tweet taken down on Saturday as well, after it violated the company’s rules.

In a now-deleted message, West wrote that he was going to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” he wrote, per the outlet. “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”