Kanye West announced in an Instagram post Saturday that he was renouncing anti-Semitism, writing that watching actor Jonah Hill in the movie 21 Jump Street made him “love Jews again.”
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The rapper, known officially as Ye, has caused shock with a spate of anti-Semitic remarks over the past few months – he kept chanting, “I love Hitler” – that prompted sporting goods giant Adidas and other fashion houses to stop collaborating with him. He has also been banned from most social networks.
“When I see Jonah Hill at 21 Jump Street, I love the Jewish people again,” he wrote on his Instagram account.
“No one should turn their anger at one or two people into hatred at millions of innocent people,” he continues, before finally stating: “No Christian can be called an anti-Semite if he knows that Jesus is a Jew. Thanks Jonah Hill, I love you.”
This statement was taken with caution.
“It doesn’t work that way, Kanye. The damage is done. The seeds of hate you have sown have already sown,” one person wrote on Twitter.
Last year, the rapper, who has been open about his mental health issues, was briefly banned from Instagram last year for violating the social network’s harassment policy during his acrimonious divorce from reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
Adidas said earlier this month that it was still considering what to do with its massive stash of Yeezy merchandise after ending its partnership with Kanye West last October. Not selling clothes and shoes related to the rapper would result in a €1.2 billion loss in sales, the group said when announcing its 2022 results.