Kanye West paid settlement to former employee who claimed he celebrated Hitler and Nazis, report says

Rapper has been dropped by the likes of Adidas and GAP following antisemitism controversy

Kanye West paid a settlement to a former employee over allegations he praised Hitler and Nazis during business meetings, according to a report.

The rapper, who is now known as Ye, was accused by the employee of using antisemitic language in the workplace and eventually signed a settlement over it, reported NBC News.

The news organisation says it spoke to the former employee, whom it is not naming as they signed a nondisclosure agreement with West, and has reviewed the settlement, correspondence and proof of payment.

NBC News also says that six people have told them they witnessed West praise Hitler or use conspiracy theories about Jewish people in the past five years.

West has been dropped by the likes of Adidas, GAP, Balenciaga, Foot Locker, his agents, and his lawyers in the wake of his antisemitism controversy, and claims it has cost him around $1bn.

He has also been sued by the family of George Floyd after claiming that he died from fentanyl and that a Minnesota police officer’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that.”

Ryder Ripps, an artist who worked with West between 2014 and 2018, told NBC News that West allegedly spoke positively about Hitler and used antisemitic conspiracy theories during meetings in the summer and fall of 2018.

Mr Ripps, who is Jewish, said he pushed back against the statements at the time but that they “didn’t seem that dangerous.”

He says that his opinion has now changed following West’s latest string of controversial comments.

“This is dangerous and disgusting, and actually violent,” he said.

“With this pattern that’s happening and with the doubling and tripling down of all this, it’s pretty obvious that this is some kind of disgusting, hate-filled, strange Nazi obsession.”

Mr West’s recent round of controversy started after he wore a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt at a Paris fashion show. He then took to Instagram where he posted screenshots of messages in which he stated that rapper Diddy was being controlled by Jews.

After his account was locked, he went to Twitter and posted that he was tired and when he woke up he would go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” The social media platform went on to restrict his account access.

Mr West then conducted an interview with right-wing host Tucker Carlson on Fox News.

Unaired footage from that interview was then leaked to Vice in which West made a string of antisemitic comments as well as bizarre conspiracy theories.

In one comment, West said that he preferred his children with Kim Kardashian to learn about Hanukkah rather than Kwanzaa because “at least it will come with some financial engineering.”

He then did an interview on the Drink Champs podcast in which he continued to make antisemitic remarks and spread misinformation about George Floyd’s death. The episode has now been pulled from YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.