The CEO of Endeavor is calling on companies to either cease or avoid doing business with rapper Kanye West in the wake of his antisemitic rants.
In an op-ed for the Financial Times, Ari Emanuel wrote that businesses that 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 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.”
Emanuel also called on Apple and Spotify to stop streaming West’s music.
As Deadline points out, West was recently forced out of a banking relationship and has lost other business opportunities due to his remarks, which included his threat to go to “Death Con 3” on Jewish people.
In his op-ed, Emanuel dismissed the notion that West’s behavior is due to mental illness. “Some of West’s behavior has been dismissed over time, citing mental illness, given that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after being hospitalized in 2016,” Emanuel wrote. “However, mental illness is not an excuse for racism, hatred or anti-Semitism.”
“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 continued. “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 concluded his piece by saying he’d be willing to broker talks between West and the Jewish community if he “would like to be educated about the history and consequences of anti-Semitism and the conspiracy theories he’s parroting.”
