- Schwimmer condemns Kanye’s hate speech and violence against Jews over the years.
- He criticizes Wireless Fest for profiting off Kanye despite his history of bigotry.
- Schwimmer doubts the authenticity of Kanye’s apology, saying it does not erase past abuse.
Friends actor David Schwimmer had plenty to say about the controversy surrounding Kanye West and his now-canceled three-night headlining performance at the Wireless Festival.
Taking to Instagram, the actor, who is of Jewish faith, thanked the companies, Pepsi, PayPal, Diageo (also Rockstar Energy), for their “moral clarity” after they pulled out of the UK’s Wireless Festival as official sponsors after it was announced he would be headlining all three nights.
In the post’s photo carousel, Schwimmer kicks it off with a meme that reads “I’m sorry, not sorry, I’m sorry, I’m a nazi,” basically playing on West’s behavior.
He also called out Wireless Festival and its promoter, Festival Republic, for trying to profit off West, who he says is “one of the most recognizable hate-mongering bigots in the world.”
Schwimmer also pointed out that the Chicago rapper used his celebrity influence to promote “hate and violence against Jews, based on baseless stereotypes across his social media platforms.
The next couple of slides feature his statement where he points to Ye’s head*ss moments like dropping a song named “Heil Hitler,” selling T-shirts with swastikas on them, and even claiming to be a nazi.
Schwimmer also questioned the sincerity of West’s apology to the Jewish and Black community he took out via a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal, a publication a good portion of his fans don’t read.
West claimed he was “deeply mortified” by his behavior and blamed it on an undiagnosed right-brain injury he suffered during a car crash that led to his later bipolar type‑1 diagnosis, which he says led him to lose touch with reality.
Here is Schwimmer’s full statement via Newsweek:
“Thanks Pepsi, PayPal & Diageo.
It’s great to see companies with moral clarity.
These brands have pulled sponsorship of Wireless Festival, which disgraced itself recently by scheduling Ye (formerly Kanye West) to headline.
Unlike Wireless and Festival Republic, they decided not to platform an artist who became one of the most recognizable hate-mongering bigots in the world—while the other orgs seek only to profit from one.
For years, Ye used his considerable celebrity to promote hate and violence against Jews, spreading antisemitic lies and stereotypes to his 33 million followers—more than twice the number of Jewish people alive today.
Less than a year ago Ye released the song ‘Heil Hitler’ (rightly banned from all major streaming platforms), sold swastika T-shirts on his website, claimed he was a Nazi and threatened to kill Jews.
But about two months ago he professed to apologize for all that in a paid Ad he took out in The Wall Street Journal—perhaps part of a PR scheme to assuage folks right before his long-planned return to the stage.
Remember: Ye’s apologized before, only to retract that apology and double down on his virulent hatred of Jewish people.
This time, he explained it was a health condition that had made him specifically target Jews with hate speech and threats of violence.
So he’s launching a comeback, having recently played at SoFi Stadium in California (Kroenke family were you aware?) supported by Lauryn Hill, Travis Scott, CeeLo Green and Don Toliver—artists who seem to shrug off his history of rabid antisemitism. Or maybe endorse it? Hard to say, since none of them ever publicly denounced his past remarks.
The thing is, Ye’s words and actions the last few years have caused incalculable, irreparable damage. He has fueled world wide hatred and inspired violence against Jews everywhere, and his erratic behavior has repeatedly shown he can’t be trusted. It’s fine for his famous pals to pat him on the back and say, ‘It’s all good.’ But the community he has harmed most has no reason to trust his apology is authentic.
An apology letter is just that: Words on paper. An advertisement, generating publicity before a concert tour. It does not erase years of abuse.
I believe in forgiveness, but it takes much more than this. Then again, I do not profit from his appearing at Wireless.
Until Ye demonstrates a commitment to building back trust—not only with the Jewish community, but with ALL the fans he left heartbroken and disappointed by his hateful rhetoric the last several years—he should not be granted a platform to perform.
To do so is to be tacitly complicit in what these companies know to be wrong, unethical and immoral.
I hope Budweiser, Beat Box Beverages, Drip water and Big Green Coach come to the same conclusion.”
Well, Schwimmer won’t need the other sponsors to act because Wireless Fest was canceled after Yeezy was denied entry into the UK.
Welp.
