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The Cost of Hatred

By Shlomo Maital   

   Press reports:  “Over the last month [November/December], rapper Kanye West, now also known as Ye, has posted antisemitic tropes on his social media accounts, shared antisemitic conspiracy theories with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and later, on social media, threatened violence against Jews.

      “Since launching a presidential bid during the week of Thanksgiving, [Kanye West] has gone on a media tour, going after Jewish people on podcasts and traveling with an entourage of known antisemites. In his latest appearance on the InfoWars talk show hosted by provocateur Alex Jones, West, alongside white supremacist Nick Fuentes, said people should “stop dissing the Nazis” and exalted Adolf Hitler.”

     There is apparently a cost to racial and religious hatred.  West, who chooses to be known as ‘Ye’, holds copyrights to the Yeezy brand of shoes sold by Adidas.

    Yeezy products generated nearly $2 billion in sales last year for Adidas accounting for 8% of the company’s total sales, according to Morgan Stanley.

     No longer.  Adidas will sell the existing Yeezy shoes, some say at a 70% discount, and discontinue the line.  Ye’s copyright for Yeezy will become worthless.  The loss for him is immense. 

      Kanye West suffers from bipolar disease.  The American Jewish Committee asserts this cannot excuse religious hatred. 

      Kanye West is one of the world’s best-selling music artists, with over 160 million records sold, 22 Grammy Awards and 75 nominations, the joint tenth-most of all time, and the joint-most Grammy awards of any rapper along with Jay-Z. 

     What will he be remembered for?  His anti-semitism and hatred of Jews. 

          Hatred has a cost.