Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles What's up, Ye? The fallout continues for Ye. Formerly known as Kanye West, whose recent antisemitic comments have caused public outrage. This morning, Adidas, which helped make the rapper's YEEZY shoe and clothing line a multibillion-dollar business, severed ties with him, a major blow to his brand and bottom line, putting his career in jeopardy. The company's decision comes just a few days after Ye taunted Adidas on the Drink Champs podcast. I could say antisemitic things, and Adidas can't drop me. Now what? Now what? Adidas' decision caused Ye to lose $1.5 billion in net worth in one day. Corporations just don't want to touch and engage and be in partnership with someone who spews such antisemitic rhetoric and ideology that is coming forward. So, as a result, I don't know where Kanye West goes in, uh, building corporate partnerships from here. Earlier this month, Ye was suspended from Twitter, where he has millions of followers, after tweeting that he was going to go, quote, "death con 3 on Jews". ... exactly what our culture is based on. Around the same time, unaired clips of Ye's interview with Fox's Tucker Carlson obtained by Vice News made rounds on the internet. In one, he plays off a false antisemitic belief that Jews control the world's financial system. I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah and Kwanzaa⏤at least it will come with some financial engineering. The tricky thing about antisemitism for a lot of people is that it is subtle and insidious by design. He has repeatedly invoked a series of hateful and vicious stereotypes against Jewish people. And he has engaged in the kind of rhetoric that can lead to real-world violence. This past weekend, members of a neo-Nazi group unfurled banners about the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, one of the nation's busiest highways. Other images show the demonstrations giving the Nazi salute. I think we are seeing a spike in antisemitism⏤or at least a rise. This often happens at times of great tension in our society⏤blame the Jews, not whoever is in power. According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents hit an all-time high in 2021⏤more than 2,700 cases of assault, harassment, and vandalism⏤up 34% from 2020. In this moment, in this context where the Jewish community feels vulnerable, to see someone like Kanye West knowingly and intentionally increasing that vulnerability, it is inexcusable. Adidas saying, in part, today, it, quote, "... does not tolerate antisemitism in any other sort of hate speech." "Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company's values." The World Jewish Congress applauded Adidas' action, but not its two-week delay, saying in a statement, the company's history "... is not disconnected from the dangers of antisemitism." "During World War II, its factories produced supplies and weapons for the Nazi regime." Many of Ye's other business partners acted swiftly in the wake of his antisemitic remarks. Talent agency CAA dropped him as a client; fashion house Balenciaga ended their partnership with him. Some celebrities like John Legend, Jamie Lee Curtis, Reese Witherspoon are also speaking out, condemning Ye's rhetoric. Ye's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, with whom he has four children, also posting, "Hate speech is never OK or excusable." "I stand together with the Jewish community, and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end." You know, there is a sense of sadness and tragedy when you think about individuals that have known him for so long; for somebody to evolve an ideology to a place in space where he is now. Antisemitism has been increasing over the last number of years, from "Jews will not replace us" to gunning us down in synagogue while we are praying. Jews are really scared. Seeing people like Kanye openly speak antisemitic tropes or continue to spread antisemitism, it makes me disappointed Sit in the chair here; right there. In New Jersey, 17-year-old Aaron Goodman is using new media to tell this old and terrifying story. How does being a Holocaust survivor affect you today? I am very upset by the antisemitism. I've been running this TikTok for about a year, and over this year, I've amassed 4⏤450 to 500,000 followers and over 50 million views. Tattooing was just a way to keep track of us. This one-on-one interaction with a survivor, it's hard to find. This (is) my first picture when I came back. That survivor is Aaron's 85-year-old grandmother, Tova Friedman, one of the last remaining people who's alive after living through the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. A "New York Times" bestseller was written about the story of her life, called "The Daughter of Auschwitz". When I first came to the concentration camp, there was a smell that I couldn't understand what it was. I never smelled anything like that, and I said, "Mom, what is that?" And she said to me⏤she pointed to the crematorium, and she said to me, "Those are the burning bodies that have been gassed." Tova vividly remembers being separated from her father at age five and accepting her new reality with her mother inside the death camp. It was a complete and utter nightmare and you thought you'd wake up, but you didn't wake up. Tova remembers one horrific day where she was corralled with a group of children. The kids were going to be⏤to the gas chamber. And we went into the waiting room at the gas chamber. Waiting room! And we waited and waited, and they yelled and screamed in German, and then they told us to go back. I never found out why, but it was just pure luck that I didn't go through the door. Shortly after, Auschwitz was liberated. Tova was reunited with her mother and father, who miraculously survived, - Here, right here... - ... but scores of her friends and family died in camps. All the Auschwitz tattooed people, uh, those people were taken to all different camps all over Germany. Today, as cases of antisemitism rise and become seemingly more accepted and normalized, Tova has a dire warning. Hatred is hatred, and we have to be very, very careful what we're doing. It doesn't stop with words; it's gonna continue with deeds, and before you know it, we have a massacre. Hi, everyone, George Stephanopoulos here; thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel. If you'd like to get more videos, show highlights, and watch live-event coverage, click on the right over here to subscribe to our channel, and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts. Thanks for watching.
B2 ABCNews ye adidas auschwitz kanye rhetoric Ye's antisemitic comments spark outrage, fear | Nightline 10703 77 林宜悉 posted on 2022/10/31 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary