Kanye announces he is now a fan of Jewish people

Kanye West announced that he now is a fan of Jewish people, reversing the stance he revealed in October when he vowed to “go death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.”

The latest twist in a saga that has fuelled antisemitic rhetoric across the United States was prompted, West said on Instagram, by seeing the Jewish actor Jonah Hill in the 2012 buddy cop comedy 21 Jump Street.

“Watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump street made me like Jewish people again. No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people,” West wrote in a caption accompanying an image of the movie poster. He later added, “Thank you Jonah Hill I love you.”

West also included a line that echoed some of his earlier self-defence: “No Christian can be labelled antisemite knowing Jesus is Jew.” West had previously indicated that his October tweet – which caused him to be suspended from social media, citicised from all corners and cut loose from a deal with Adidas – was prompted by anger at specific Jewish people he knew in the entertainment industry.

In late November, he had dinner with former president Donald Trump and Nick Fuentes, a right-wing provocateur and avowed antisemite. Several days later, he spent three hours as a guest on Infowars, the streaming show hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in which West proclaimed multiple times that he loved Adolf Hitler.

PHILISSA CRAMER for JTA