Between his hero worship of Donald Trump, his penchant for spewing antisemitic conspiracy theories, and his move to purchase Parler, which is essentially Twitter for white supremacists, Kanye West has managed to alienate just about everyone except the former president and the unhinged residents of Trumpland who would like to see the failed reality show host reclaim his Diet Coke button in the Oval Office.
Now, in a blistering op-ed for the Financial Times, which was picked up by The Hollywood Reporter, super-agent Ari Emanuel — whose client list includes Martin Scorsese, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr., and Oprah Winfrey — is urging his fellow entertainment industry power brokers to cease all dealings with the man currently known as Ye.
In the piece, Emanuel, who is the CEO of Endeavor, urged corporate behemoths like Apple, Adidas, and Spotify to stop working with West, as they were only giving him a wider platform from which to spread his hate speech. Emanuel also urged Parler’s parent company to not go through with any deal to sell the network to the former Mr. Kim Kardashian.
“West is not just any person,” Emanuel wrote. “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. 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 noted that he wrote a similar piece for HuffPost way back in 2006, in which he asked Hollywood to turn its back on Mel Gibson following his antisemitic outburst after being pulled over while driving under the influence. The agent noted, however, that Gibson has apologized for his past behaviors, and that he has actually recommended him for projects as a result. In other words: being canceled doesn’t have to be a life sentence.
“We are all capable of learning and evolving, and if West would like to be educated about the history and consequences of anti-Semitism and the conspiracy theories he’s parroting, if he wants to reach out to religious leaders — including rabbis, Muslim leaders, Christian leaders — I’d be happy to help,” Emanuel said.
You can read the full op-ed here.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)