Ari Emanuel, CEO Endeavor, today asked companies that do business with Kanye to end all ties with the controversial rapper.
After his scandalous arrest, West has been making the media rounds. “Death Con 3”Tweet (see below): He doubles down his claims of Jewish people being mistreated.
Emanuel wrote that he had responded to a Financial Times editorial. “Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience. There should be no tolerance anywhere for West’s anti-Semitism,”Emanuel wrote this in a Financial Times article. “This is a moment in history where the stakes are high and being open about our values, and living them, is essential. Silence and inaction are not an option.”
He added that Apple and Spotify should stop streaming West’s music.
According to reports, West is a billionaire because of his music and fashion ventures. He was recently forced to leave a bank relationship and other associations were ended because of his views. While his career wouldn’t stop if his current distribution relationships terminate, maintaining his empire at present levels would be difficult.
Emanuel refused to buy that West’s recent statements can be attributed to his past widely reported battles with mental illness.
“Some of West’s behavior has been dismissed over time, citing mental illness, given that he wasdiagnosed with bipolar disorderafter being hospitalized in 2016,” Emanuelwrote.“However, mental illness is not an excuse for racism, hatred or anti-Semitism.”
A particular danger to West’s comments are its effects on his young followers, Emanuel contended
“West is not just any person — he is a pop culture icon with millions of fans around the world. And among them are young people whose views are still being formed,”He wrote. “This is why it is necessary for all of us to speak out. Hatred and anti-Semitism should have no place in our society, no matter how much money is at stake.”
Emanuel extended an olive limb at the end his comments and offered to broker negotiations with religious leaders “if West would like to be educated about the history and consequences of anti-Semitism and the conspiracy theories he’s parroting.”
