Surprisingly, Akon is defending Ye after an extraordinarily controversial and antisemitic week. Kanye West has been in the spotlight lately for some touchy remarks regarding Adolph Hitler and the Holocaust.
During Alex Jones’ Infowars appearance, West claimed that “every human being has value…they brought to the table, especially Hitler.” Ye also claimed to “see good things about Hitler.”
This rhetoric is highly dangerous, even to right-wing Alex Jones, who was caught off guard by West’s words. It appeared even Ye’s most loyal fans did not appreciate his views this week.
However, some stand up for Ye, regardless of his new hobbies.
Akon Gives Benefit Of The Doubt
The “Smack That” artist Akon came to Kanye’s defense this past Friday (Dec 2). While appearing on an episode of Sky News, the West African rapper answered questions about Kanye’s views on Hitler.
“I think the moment we get to the place where we close our minds up to other people’s opinion, it kind of doesn’t allow us to get to better know each other better know our mindsets and more than anything better know our movements,” Akon replied. “I think sometimes we should open up our minds and let things play all the way out and better understand the situation, so we have a better solution for it.”
Zero Tolerance For Hate
While defending Ye, Akon also clarified that he disagrees with the “Flashing Lights” rappers’ views but would be open to a discussion.
Many didn’t approve of Akon’s reasoning for maintaining support for Kanye. “Not really because those comments don’t really affect me personally,” the “I Wanna Love You” artist responded when asked if the antisemitic comments bothered him. “And if it does affect you personally, then find a way to actually respond in a way to where that conversation can be reciprocated.”
“Because I think sometimes when someone is offended, they just lash out in defense or lash out to make that person feel that same offense that they felt,” Akon went on. “I think when you take negative, and you applied the response negatively back, you only get negative back.”
“Don’t take things too personally until you really understand the situation,” the artist finished.
Social media reacted quickly to Akon’s opinion, swiftly condemning the artist for not standing up against hate speech. “Bro, he f—— praised Hitler and threatened Jewish people. We know the situation,” one Twitter user quipped.
Akon said Kanye’s comments don’t bother him because it doesn’t affect him. Normalizing Jew hatred by excusing it with “it’s just an opinion” is vile.
Kanye said he loves hitler (a murderer of 6 million Jews & millions of people of color). This is not an opinion, this is HATE.
Akon says “Don’t take Kanye’s comments about Jews to heart or be offended until you know the situation.” Bro, he fucking praised Hitler and threatened Jewish people. We know the situation. https://t.co/z2B5cwpHkK
The unexpected excuses for Kanye come at a notably positive era in Akon’s career. Starting off as a hip-hop singer/rapper in the early 2000s, Akon has pivoted in recent years to philanthropy in Africa. His prolific non-profit project Akon Lighting Africa was founded with Samba Bathily and Thione Niang in 2014 and aims to provide basic electricity to small towns throughout Africa using solar power. By using energy from the sun, Akon has helped massively with increasing street lights and electrical infrastructure in his home country of Senegal. In addition to Senegal, Akon Lighting Africa is currently operating in Mali, Niger, and Sierra Leone.
Truly, Akon is a part of a small minority; celebs are notably quiet in the wake of Kanye’s pro-Hitler comments. It might just be the final nail in the coffin of Ye’s career.
An ambitious young journalist from Baltimore, Maryland with a passion for releasing candid and accurate information to the public. Has experience in broadcast, reporting, and editing. Always strives to make stories unique and captivating while telling the truth. Currently pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Broadcast Journalism.
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