In choosing to host a Kanye West concert, SoFi Stadium has chosen to “spit in the face of every Jewish person in Los Angeles,” according to politician and advocate Sam Yebri.
West announced he would appear in Los Angeles for a one-night performance at the massive Southern California venue on April 3 in a social media post shared Monday.
The concert is the 48-year-old rapper’s first live show in the city in five years, and members of the Jewish community aren’t happy about it given the vile, antisemitic comments West has made over years.
“Sofi hosting a Ye concert after his years of hate-filled vitriol and Nazi-inspired music spits in the face of every Jewish person in Los Angeles,” Yebri, a former city council candidate and Jewish advocate, told The California Post.
“Events need venues. Venues make choices. Sofi made a despicable choice,” he added. “Would Sofi host a neo-Nazi rally or ISIS convention too?”
The former city council candidate said unless West planned to use the concert to apologize for the his hateful comments, anyone who attends the event is no better than the rapper.
“Unless Ye is planning to use his concert to apologize, heal wounds, and disavow antisemitism, everyone who attends is supporting and normalizing anti-Jewish racism.”
A spokesperson for the Anti Defamation League said an apology to the Jewish people was definitely in order given Ye praised Adolf Hitler, called himself a Nazi, and denied that antisemitism is real.
“Ye’s apology to the Jewish people is long overdue and doesn’t automatically undo his long history of antisemitism – the antisemitic ‘Heil Hitler’ song he created, the hundreds of tweets, the swastikas and myriad Holocaust references – and all of the feelings of hurt and betrayal it caused,” the ADL spokesperson said.
“The truest apology would be for him to not engage in antisemitic behavior in the future. We wish him well on the road to recovery.”
The musician has a history of making antisemitic remarks. He was named 2022’s Antisemite of the Year by the group StopAntisemitism.
The group cited West’s post from October of that year in which he said he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people” and repeated statements that he was being controlled by Jewish executives.
In January, Ye took out a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal and addressed his past actions including selling a t-shirt with a swastika, claiming he did so due to his bipolar disorder, Page Six reported.
West recently apologized for his “reckless” behavior over the last few years, and wrote that he “said and did things” that he deeply regrets.
“It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people,” West declared, at one point in the lengthy open letter.
The SoFi show comes out ahead of the release of his upcoming album “Bully” due out later that month.
The California Post reached out to SoFi Stadium for further comment.
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