Jewish Groups Rip Kanye West Over New Song

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, is making headlines again, and again for antisemitism, this time over his new song “Vultures,” which was leaked earlier this month.

The song makes a vulgar reference to his having sex with a Jewish woman as a reason why he is not antisemitic. He performed the song live for the first time last weekend at a nightclub in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

It was his first song released since July 2022. Since then, more attention has been paid to Ye’s frequent public statements about Jews than about his music or his split from reality TV star Kim Kardashian. In October 2022 during a fashion show for his Yeezy line in Paris, Ye was photographed wearing a shirt emblazoned with “White Lives Matter.” 

After facing criticism, he posted on his social media accounts that he was going to “Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” prompting Instagram and Twitter, now known as X, to suspend his accounts. In July, X owner Elon Musk reinstated Ye’s account on the social media platform.

“At a time of rising antisemitism worldwide, it’s disgusting to see Kanye once again use his platform to spew Jew hatred,” Richard Hirschhaut, a spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League, told TMZ.

Hirschhaut said the lyric isn’t surprising given its source, calling Ye an “unrepentant antisemite and clearly a misogynist.”

He said Ye’s latest statement of antisemitism “seems particularly pathetic and sad.”

“To fuel the flames of antisemitism and promote such bile to his millions of followers, especially at this fraught and dangerous time for the Jewish community, is unforgivable,” Hirschhaut said.