Paul Stanley, the leader of KISS, has stated that Kanye West's antisemitic outbursts cannot be justified by his mental illness.
West's Instagram and Twitter accounts were banned over the weekend after he published posts that broke both platforms' guidelines - including comments aimed at fellow rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs accusing "Jewish people" of telling him to call and "threaten or influence me".
He further escalated his antisemitic remarks by tweeting that he was "going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." The comments received considerable condemnation from the likes of Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Legend, and Jack Antonoff, as well as officials from Jewish community organisations.
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Nonetheless, others have raised concern that a mental health episode may have prompted West's remarks, given that he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and that his most recent remarks followed a run of unpredictable behavior.
Stanley, who is Jewish, has previously defended West when he was criticized for his behavior, but on Tuesday he tweeted that mental illness cannot be used as an excuse for promoting hatred.
"Mental illness IS a disease but should NEVER be used to minimize the danger of hate speech, advocating antisemitism and violence against religions or ethnicities," he wrote. "We have found ways over centuries to rationalize this behavior and viewed the atrocities that followed. SPEAK UP!"
West stunned fans last week when he wore a "White Lives Matter" shirt at a Paris Fashion Week visit, eliciting criticism. He later doubled down on his opinions as part of an interview on Fox News and made an aggressive joke regarding Lizzo's weight.
LeBron James has never had difficulty expressing his views on subjects unrelated to basketball. And he spoke up about this too.
On Tuesday evening, he decided to cancel an episode of his television program "The song The Shop features rapper Kanye West.
James' camp issued a statement to the website Andscape.com stating that the episode will not run due to West's recent harsh remarks on the Jewish community. James, who played for the Miami Heat from 2010 to 2014, has always been outspoken on such subjects.
During his time with the Heat, he was instrumental in the team's decision to pose for a photo while wearing hoodies in honor of Trayvon Martin. After racist rhetoric was captured on camera by the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, he later spoke out against Sterling. Eventually, Sterling was suspended from the NBA.
