Are VHS students pro-Kanye?

Recently, internet and music celebrity, Kanye West has been in multiple controversies due to anti-Semitic comments he made on Twitter and Instagram. West said things such as, “I like Hitler,” and “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con [three] on Jewish people.”

“The funny thing is I actually can’t be anti-semitic because black people are actually Jew[ish]. Also, you guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” West said in an interview on InfoWars.

 West claimed that Hitler made both microphones and highways, which both benefited him. He has also raised the idea of the Holocaust not happening, West said, “The Holocaust is not what happened…let’s look at the facts of that.”

This has caused outrage online and made many West fans stop consuming his music. From some people’s point of view, they can’t support someone who doesn’t think the Holocaust was real and who also supports Hitler. But, some fans have been following and agreeing with West’s beliefs and posting similar things to him. 

Since all the controversy surrounding his claims, West’s Twitter account and Instagram account have also been suspended due to posting an image of a Nazi Swastika merged with the Jewish Star of David. In our opinion, this is offensive because it’s implying the idea of unification between the Nazis and Jewish people, the same Nazis who brutally murdered a large amount of Jewish people during the holocaust,

Jewish people use The Star of David to signify pride and love for their faith. As one of the writers of this article is Jewish, we find the claims West has made extremely offensive. 

West has found himself in other controversies in the past. This has created the idea that all of this is just a stunt for more attention, as this has been a problem for him in the past. However, it’s hard to believe West could embarrass himself like this just for attention. 

“[Hitler] didn’t kill six million Jews. That’s just factually incorrect,” West said. This is a pretty far-fetched statement, even for someone like West, who is almost always in a controversy.  

It’s generally accepted as a fact that at least six million European Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. So he is not only proved wrong by the millions of documents and other historical records of the Holocaust, 

West has been open about his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, going so far as to call it a “superpower.” 

While Kanye sees his disorder as a “superpower,” BPD is a actually life-changing disorder, speaking as people who have it. It negatively changes your whole life and how you function. 

West has spoken out about his complicated relationship with taking medicine for BPD. In 2018, he told The New York Times he was, “learning how to not be on any more meds,” and later that year he said he had not taken any medication for six months. “I can feel me again,” West tweeted on Feb. 10, 2022.

Isaac Hayward ‘26 said, “I think Kanye has made some great music. I personally love his music. Some of the things he’s said are questionable and very random. Sometimes I agree with him and sometimes I don’t. I agree with him on ‘all lives matter,’ because I do believe all lives matter, but I don’t agree with the anti-semitic things he has said on the internet.” 

Amanda Lubos ‘25 said, “I think Kanye is an awful person. I think he’s very disrespectful and everything he says is just for attention and full of hate and there’s no purpose in it. I think people who have respect for themselves wouldn’t encourage that behavior. I think the whole thing with the Holocaust and Jews is not something to make fun of or joke about. Even [if he] was joking.”

Ryan Hildeerecht ‘23 said, “In the last six or so months, Kanye has been pretty unhinged with the things he is saying. I mean, he has always been kinda crazy, but in recent months after the divorce [from] Kim Kardashian, it has gotten worse. He’s kind of just losing it.” 

“I’m big on allowing free speech but it’s not okay when you threaten someone because of their culture and ethnicity. So, yes I think he deserved to be banned so that he cannot harm others emotionally… I don’t think [West’s] career can come back from this fully. I mean, people will still like his music but I don’t think people will like him as a person after what he has said. Personally, I think it is appalling that someone could say that about another race,” Hildeerecht said when asked if he thinks West should’ve been banned from social media or not. 

We think that Kanye West’s statements are extremely racist and anti-Semitic. We do not think it is okay for anyone to say those things about the Holocaust. The holocaust was a horrible tragedy that occurred and it is not to be discounted as real. We feel that West has said some horrible things that he can never take back. In conclusion, we believe that Kanye West has made some horrible decisions with his words which has caused many to not like or generally enjoy Kanye, with some going as far as to stop listening to his music entirely.