An image is price a thousand phrases… or extra highly effective than a 40-minute apology video, we guess?
Kanye West launched an apology for his antisemitic feedback final month, and was on the cusp of dropping one other one, a rambling video stated to be nonsensical however prolonged. But what good are these phrases when he’s sporting an image of what he actually helps?
The Power rapper was noticed in a pic on the social media of fellow rapper JPEGMafia on Friday morning, and in it he’s sporting an especially controversial t-shirt. It’s the shirt of a Norwegian black steel band from the ’90s referred to as Burzum — a band really made up of only one man, Varg Vilkernes (above, inset — from jail), whose face is proven prominently on the tee.
vultures ???? pic.twitter.com/KHruRPalmF
— JPEGMAFIA (@jpegmafia) January 19, 2024
If any of those names are sounding acquainted it’s much less doubtless you’ve heard his music on Spotify — and extra doubtless you’ve heard about him on a real crime podcast.
Related: Kanye & Bianca Censori Spending ‘Time Apart’ — He’s Moved Into A Hotel!
Vilkernes is a convicted arsonist and assassin who spent 15 years in jail for burning down church buildings and stabbing to demise a bandmate and rival named Euronymous from the band Mayhem. They made a film about it a pair years again referred to as Lords of Chaos. It starred a Culkin.
The different factor that’s essential to learn about Varg? He was an out-and-proud, unabashed Nazi.
Yes, throughout his time in jail he really launched an entire neo-Nazi motion in Scandinavia referred to as the Norwegian Heathen Front. He was one of many few folks to obtain a duplicate of the manifesto by that far-right terrorist who killed 77 folks in Norway in 2011. He was arrested a pair years afterward suspicion of planning acts of terrorism, but it surely couldn’t be confirmed. After that he dropped a number of the extra overtly antisemitic, explicitly Nazi rhetoric. But he nonetheless preaches the identical crap: racism and white supremacy, sufficient that YouTube deplatformed him in 2019.
We say all this so you realize this isn’t hyperbole — this man is a contemporary neo-Nazi thought chief. And these within the know spoke out, with followers on social media writing:
“Bro wearing a band t-shirt from a known Neo-n*zi.”
“Burzum’s music and views are trash so that makes sense for YE.”
“Huge fan of you bro but this is disappointing.”
Has that final individual not been listening to anything Ye has been saying for the previous couple years??
Liora Rez, the exec director of CeaseAntisemitism, stated in an announcement to DailyMail.com:
“StopAntisemitism strongly condemns Kanye’s decision to wear a t-shirt depicting Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes, a neo-Nazi killer with a notorious history of violence and hate. This is yet another disgusting example of the disgraced rapper publicly associating with white supremacists — promoting the legacy of an individual who has caused immense harm and poses a threat to marginalized communities everywhere. There will never be a redemption arc for Kanye West, period. What will he try next? Another apology in Hebrew?”
Fair.
Obviously this isn’t essentially the most egregiously antisemitic factor Kanye has finished, but it surely’s a reasonably large purple flag — or black flag on this case — that he’s by no means remorseful for his views.
To study extra about antisemitism and how one can assist combat it, try https://www.adl.org/.
[Image via FoxNews/Variance Films/YouTube.]