Hollywood talent agency CAA cuts ties with Kanye West after antisemitic tirade
New York — Hollywood talent agency CAA has cut ties with rapper Kanye West after the rapper made a series of antisemitic and homophobic remarks and launched three attacks early Saturday against the people of Pittsburgh.
The agency said it had decided to sever ties with West on Saturday in response to the rapper’s “abusive remarks and comments that are both offensive and unacceptable.” It added in a statement that West had “overstepped his bounds.”
West’s remarks included multiple tweets in which he blamed “Zionist Jews” for the murders of black people in Dallas and he used the hashtag “whitelest” for at least one of his tweets.
He also retweeted a post from The New York Times‘ opinion section that linked to a comment by Jewish novelist Jonathan Safron, who accused him of “peddling the worst of anti-Semitism,” an accusation that West has denied. “A white supremacist,” he said on Instagram.
West is no longer signed to CAA, which is owned by WME, which also owns The New York Times, Variety, CNN and The Hollywood Reporter. The agency released a statement on Twitter, saying it had “moved quickly to sever his representation contract with CAA.”
The statement continued, “We are committed as an industry to the protection of individuals, and we are proud that CAA has been a longtime champion of the rights of marginalized communities across the country. We are sorry that Mr. West’s actions are contrary to the values of our industry.”
The agency said the tweets made “clear that Mr. West’s hateful remarks are anti-Semitic in nature. CAA will continue to champion efforts against hate and discrimination in all of our practices, programs and operations, and will continue to advocate for the Jewish community and the Jewish community’s needs in the entertainment industry during this time of heightened awareness around bigotry.”
West had tweeted earlier Saturday: “Black people have something in common. We all want to be ppl. The way of life that built this country didn’t just benefit a few white ppl. #Whitelest.”