Kanye West pays settlement to former employee for antisemitism remarks – USA TODAY

Ye allegedly paid a settlement to a former employee who claimed he used antisemitic language in the workplace, according to documents obtained by NBC News.

In a report published by the outlet Wednesday, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) paid an undisclosed sum to the former employee, who allegedly witnessed “more than one incident in which Ye praised Hitler or Nazis in business meetings.” 

Ye denied the individual’s allegations in the settlement. 

The former employee spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a previous nondisclosure agreement, according to NBC News.

USA TODAY has reached out to Ye’s attorney for further comment. 

Six people who’ve previously worked with Ye or “witnessed him in professional settings over the past five years” shared with NBC News that they recalled the rapper talk about anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and praise Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

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Jewish conceptual artist Ryder Ripps, who worked with Ye between 2014 and 2018, said per NBC News that there were multiple instances during the summer and fall of 2018 in which the rapper shared these conspiracy theories, as well as “spoke positively about Hitler and the Nazis.” 

“This is dangerous and disgusting and actually violent,” said Ripps, who initially brushed off Ye’s remarks as being not “that dangerous.” 

“With this pattern that’s happening and with the doubling and tripling down of all this, it’s pretty obvious that this is some kind of disgusting, hate-filled, strange Nazi obsession.”

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The rapper-turned-fashion-designer began attracting public scrutiny of his antisemitic remarks last month after sending out a tweet that read “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” an apparent reference to the U.S. military readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.

In the same tweet, which has since been removed by Twitter, he said: “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”

Ye later doubled down on these comments in interviews with Chris Cuomo and Piers Morgan, though he told Morgan that he apologized for the “hurt and confusion” caused by his initial tweet. “Hurt people hurt people, and I was hurt,” he said at the time.

Several major brands, including Adidas, Gap, Foot Locker and Balenciaga, have cut ties with the Yeezy designer for his recent statements. The loss of Ye’s lucrative Adidas partnership alone has knocked him off Forbes’ billionaire list.

“There is a line,” Ripps said per NBC News, “(and) I genuinely think that he’s crossed it with his current actions.”

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Contributing: Naledi Ushe and Marco della Cava, USA TODAY