I turned down £7m from Kanye over sick anti-Semitism – he's worse than Donald Trump, warns rapper's former pal | The Sun
KANYE West hit the headlines last year for making sickening anti-Semitic comments, launching an attack on "all Jewish people".
The All Falls Down rapper told his followers he was "going death con three" in a now-deleted rant that sparked rage and – according to a new documentary – fuelled a major increase in attacks on Jewish people across America.
The BBC documentary The Trouble with KanYe has revealed that even those close to him didn't escape his hate speech.
A former associate of Ye, 46, has revealed he was targeted with sick anti-Semitic comments after calling off a £7million deal.
Tech entrepreneur Alex Klein – who worked with Ye on his audio remix device Stem Player – fell out with the rapper over hateful comments he made towards the Jewish community last year.
Alex, 31, shut down a mega-bucks deal with Ye and called quits on their friendship after four years of business partnership.
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The pair began working together on the Stem Player, a £200 device built to remix music – and where Kanye exclusively released his latest album Donda 2, back in 2018.
But in 2022, Ye hit the headlines when he tweeted he was "going death con three on Jewish people".
He went on to release a line of "White Lives Matter" t-shirts with his company Yeezy, leaving celebrities, friends and fans furious.
Months later, he went on another anti-Semitic rant where he told podcast listeners he "liked Hitler" and saw "good things" in him.
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It was this that sparked Alex, who described himself as "half Jewish, half Irish" to the Evening Standard last year, to cut ties.
Speaking in new BBC documentary The Trouble with KanYe, Alex reveals he was hit with similar anti-Semitic remarks when he decided to call off business with the Praise God rapper.
He says of the fallout from Kanye's Twitter controversy: "We turned down $10million (£7.8m) – Kanye was very angry.
"He told me like, 'I feel like I want to smack you, you're just like all the other Jews'.
"He was almost relishing and revelling in how offensive he could be. He was using phrases hoping to hurt me."
'He wants to supersize Donald Trump'
Sadly, Alex reveals that it's this hate speech that Ye has been using to get "energy surrounding him" ahead of his presidential campaign.
The rapper announced he was planning to run for president in 2024, kick-starting his campaign in 2022 with an announcement video.
While Ye is yet to address the bid since, Alex believes his "return is inevitable", and expects him to be bringing more divisive views than former president Donald Trump.
The rapper was reported to have met with Trump alongside his advisor and friend, Nick Fuentes – a far-right white supremacist political commentator, barred from YouTube over hate speech.
He adds: "I asked, 'Do you really think Jews are working together to hold you back?'
"Kanye said 'Yes, I do, but it's not even a statement I need to take back because look at all the energy surrounding me right now, without that statement I couldn't become president'.
"He thinks it's his manifest, god-chosen destiny to become president. He used these anti-Jewish statements as part of a political platform.
"He told me that he was attempting to do what Trump did but in a more intense way – he wants to supersize Trump.
"The return of Kanye is inevitable and I think it's important to shed light on the situation, because Kanye has communicated using his powerful and persuasive voice, racial conspiracy theories.
"This demon in the box that he's playing with for his own benefit is irresponsible. Kanye needs to be taken seriously."
While Alex believes Ye's decisions are conscious, many others in The Trouble with KanYe have put his anti-Semitic comments down to deteriorating mental health.
'This can't end well'
Among them is Bassey Ikpi, a poet who performed with Ye on Def Poetry Jam back in 2004 – and is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Bassey, 46, tells the BBC that she feels his mental health has played a large part in the hate speech he's spread online.
Kanye was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2016 after a psychiatric emergency – and was prescribed medication to keep the condition under control.
However, The Sun exclusively revealed how in 2020 – he came off the medication to finish his album Donda when he "didn't feel creative enough".
Since, Ye has been advised not to take medication by those closest to him – and working alongside him on his political campaign – at the Cornerstone Christian Church in California.
Bassey responds: "I'm not making the case that Kanye is just a lovely guy and as soon as he takes his medication he's different. He's probably a jerk, he's probably hard to get along with.
"All the things we think of him, he's probably all of that and the illness magnifies it to unimaginable levels.
"Someone like you or me, we would probably lose friends, we would eventually lose money – so our rock bottom would come quicker.
"But he's being embraced by this new group of people, and he is falling into that embrace. This can't end well, this won't end well."
'Screw you, his medication is Satan'
The embrace Ye fell into comes from those at the Cornerstone Church – including white supremacist Nick, 24, and pastor turned political campaigner Mark.
The documentary reveals how the pair have been supporting Kanye by encouraging him not to take mental health medication – which Mark dubbed "Satanic".
He tells the cameras in The Trouble with KanYe: "Ye started looking to me for my opinion on every topic that came up.
"He called me and the first thing he said to me was 'I want you to be my campaign manager to run for president'.
"I don't think he has bipolar, I've spoken to that. He has no interest in medication – he says, 'Maybe I'm autistic and rain man with superpowers'.
"His medication is Satan… Screw you for suggesting that he take his medications, that would be an evil, horrible thing to do."
Now, the rapper had been in talks to move his Donda Academy to the church, and has since purchased part of the property with "big plans".
Those who work there say that the last of his Yeezy business operates out of the building too – after he was dropped by Adidas last year.
When approached by the BBC in the documentary, Nick refused to address Ye's mental well-being or answer any questions.
'It's going to a dangerous place'
If one thing is clear, it's that those around Ye are worried which direction the rapper could be going in next.
Dr Marcus Hunter, who is among those that first coined the phrase "Black Lives Matter" – is concerned the icon could be sparking something beyond his control.
Dr Marcus tells documentary host Mobeen Azhar: "I think a lot of times with him, there is attention seeking going on and it's been going on for quite some time.
"It's going into a very dangerous place, the consequences of his actions are much larger in scale.
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"You've gaslit the black community, you've gaslit the Jewish community, you've gaslit the commercial industry – a lot of people that are very clear [Ye] has been harmful to all of them."
The Trouble With KanYe airs on BBC Two tonight at 9pm
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