What did Kanye West say? Ye’s antisemitic comments, Twitter ban and Piers Morgan interview - explained

Rapper and singer Kanye West has caused controversy with comments he made about Jewish people and George Floyd on a podcast.

This is not the first time West, who officially changed his full name to Ye in 2021, has caused concern with the remarks he has made.

The rapper took to Instagram in March this year to refer to Daily Show host Trevor Noah with a racial slur in a post that was then deleted by the platform.

At the time, he was handed a 24 hour ban from the social media platform, but following his latest outburst it seems that he has been banned for much longer.

West has since spoken to journalist Piers Morgan about his comments and has apologised for any hurt he may have caused with them.

So, what exactly did Kanye West say about Jewish people, what did he then say about those comments to Piers Morgan and why has he been banned from Twitter and Instagram?

Here’s everything that you need to know.

What did Kanye West say originally?

During an appearance on the Drink Champs podcast on Saturday 15 October, West blamed “Jewish media” and “Jewish Zionists” for numerous alleged wrongdoings, saying that “Jewish people have owned the Black voice” and that “the Jewish community, especially in the music industry… they’ll take us and milk us till we die”.

During the three-hour long podcast, West sparked further controversy by claiming that George Floyd died from the drug fentanyl and that a police officer’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that”.

The mother of Floyd’s daughter is now suing West for $250m over his claim, and the episode has since been taken down.

Later on the same day, Saturday 15 October, the singer also claimed that he “doesn’t believe” in the term antisemitism.

Why was Kanye West banned from Twitter and Instagram?

During the night of Saturday 15 October, West wrote now deleted tweet that he was going to go “defcon 3” on Jewish people and alleged that he wasn’t “anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew,” while on Instagram he accused record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of being controlled by the religious minority.

Both posts led to him being locked out of the respective platforms, which he remained restricted from at the time of writing (Thursday 20 October).

What did Kanye West say to Piers Morgan?

West was a guest on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Wednesday 19 October. During the rapper’s appearance, the host asked him whether he regretted threatening to go “defcon 3 on Jewish people”.

West initially stood by his comments, replying: “No, absolutely not.”

Morgan then asked if he knew the comments were racist, to which West confirmed: “Yes, that’s why I said it . . . I fought fire with fire. I’m not here to get hosed down.”

Later on the show, West did go on to offer some form of apology.

He said: “I will say I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the DEFCON, the confusion that I caused. I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I’m sorry for the families that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through. Hurt people hurt people – and I was hurt.”