Peanut butter and jelly. Tom and Jerry. Kanye West and controversy. One cannot live without the other. 

During the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, West found himself in controversy with Taylor Swift. Six years forward, West again sat on the hot seat claiming that “Racism is a dated concept,” in an interview with Clique TV. Arguably his most significant controversies, in terms of backlash, fell into the sector of race. 

“When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sound like a choice,” West said on TMZ. 

A new controversy has been incited by the rapper.

“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE The funny this is I actually can’t be Anti Semetic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toured with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” West wrote in a now-deleted tweet. 

Sophomore Nico Tasso was a fan of West’s music, until he read the tweet.

“After I heard about the anti-semetic tweets, I took a little bit more of a dislike towards him. I was never like a big supporter of what Kanye had to say on platforms…he just says what he wants to say. And he just thinks he can say without repercussions,” said Tasso.

Sophomore Jayden Herr, who is a West supporter, will continue to listen to West’s music despite the recent controversy. 

“He’s 10 for 10 on albums so in my opinion he can say whatever he wants really…I didn’t really care…He kinda just went on a rant…It doesn’t affect me that much, I’ll still like his music,” said Herr. 

Junior Abigail Kaufman used to be a fan of West. As a member of the Jewish community, Kaufman says she now listens to the music much less.

“Sometimes I listen to a song or two of his every once in a while, but definitely not to the point where I’d even call myself a fan anymore. I just associate it with nazism and Jewish conspiracy theories,” said Kaufman.

Two weeks after the tweets were published by West, demonstrators were on an overpass above the 405 freeway. The demonstrators attached banners to the overpass in support of the rapper. Driving past the protest, senior Kate Friess witnessed the demonstrators. The banners read, “honk if you know” and “Kanye is right about the Jews.”

“I was also angry because cars around us were honking in agreement [with the demonstrators],” said Friess. 

Friess says that much of the surrounding traffic before the overpass was to witness the posters and demonstrators.

“The moment we cleared the bridge, the traffic lightened up. Everyone had slowed down to read the signs and react, so it caused such a backup. As soon as we passed it, everyone just went on like it didn’t happen,” Friess added. 

The rapper’s Twitter account had been locked temporarily. A few weeks after the tweets, South African billionaire Elon Musk purchased the social platform. West’s account was public again after Musk finalized his newest purchase.