JPMorgan Chase has cut ties with Kanye West following his numerous antisemitic comments — including newly surfaced allegations he once praised Hitler and Nazis.
Conservator provocateur Candace Owens first shared the news, writing on Twitter that there was “no official reason given” for the JPMorgan Chase’s decision, but West will have until late November to find a new financial institution. In response, West told Page Six he was “happy” about crossing the line into antisemitism “so we can speak openly about things like getting canceled by a bank.”
“I was told there was no official reason given, but they sent this letter as well to confirm that he has until late November to find another place for the Yeezy empire to bank,” Owens tweeted alongside a purported photo of the official notice.
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The redacted letter reads in part:
“Dear Ye,
We are sending this letter to confirm our recent discussion with [redacted name] that JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (the “Bank”) has decided to end its banking relation with Yeezy LLC and its affiliated entities (collectively, the “Company”).
To provide the Company with sufficient time to transition to another financial institution, we will continue to maintain the accounts (attached as Exhibit A), including all related products and services, until November 21, 2022.”
While speaking to Page Six, West acknowledged the letter, saying, “Hey, if you call somebody out for bad business, that means you’re being antisemitic. I feel happy to have crossed the line of that idea so we can speak openly about things like getting canceled by a bank.”
The rapper also called himself “the richest black man in American history” before being interrupted by a truck driving by and deciding to “speak at a different time.”
The New York Times later confirmed JPMorgan Chase has closed his account.
West’s antisemitism isn’t new, according to media personality Van Lathan. During an episode of his Higher Learning Podcast that went live on Tuesday, the former TMZ employee alleged West said he “loved Hitler and the Nazis” during his infamous visit in 2018 when he claimed “slavery was a choice.” However, the comments were edited out of the published interview.
“I’ve already heard him say that stuff before,” Lathan said. “I knew that that was in him because when came to TMZ, he said that stuff and they took it out of the interview. If you look at what I said at TMZ, it goes from me saying like, ‘Hey Kanye, there’s real-life, real-world implication to everything that you just said there.’”
He continued, “What I say after that — if I can remember, it’s been a long time — was, ’12 million people actually died because of Nazism and Hitler and all of that stuff,’ and then I move on to talk about what he said about slavery. The 12 million people part is not in there because they took it out, and the reason they took it out is because it wouldn’t have made sense unless they kept in Kanye saying he loved Hitler and the Nazis, which he said when he was at TMZ. He said something like, ‘I love Hitler, I love Nazis.’”
Lathan added that a Jewish member of the TMZ staff also pushed back against West’s comments. “One of the producers at TMZ actually stood up and said, ‘I’m Jewish and that is offensive to me what you just said,’” he remembered.
Watch the podcast episode starting around 16:22 below.
West kicked off October by wearing a “White Lives Matter” sweater at a surprise Yeezy fashion show. Over the weekend, his Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted for making antisemitic comments that went as far as declaring “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Just days later, Vice’s Motherboard obtained unaired clips from West’s interview with Fox News in which he spouted more disparaging comments about Jewish people.
Besides JPMorgan Chase, Adidas announced its relationship with West was “under review” on Thursday, October 6th. West has been publicly critical of the company for the past few months, going as far as posting a Photoshopped image of a New York Times front page claiming CEO Kasper Rorsted had died.
A documentary West released earlier this week also showed him harassing an Adidas executive in person by shoving a phone displaying a pornographic video in his face.
Earlier today I learned that @kanyewest was officially kicked out of JP Morgan Chase bank. I was told there was no official reason given, but they sent this letter as well to confirm that he has until late November to find another place for the Yeezy empire to bank. pic.twitter.com/FUskokb6fP
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 12, 2022
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