The British MC and pioneer of Grime music, Wiley, has been accused of antisemitism after likening the KKK to Jewish people.
Wiley Posts Antisemitic Comments
UPDATE #1: Wiley continued to abuse the Jewish community with an endless stream of obscenities, until the social media platform Twitter decided to temporarily prevent him from posting for 12 hours. He wasn't suspended permanently, and could browse content whilst signed in.
UPDATE #2: The "Eadiyat Skengman" artist continued with his antisemitic outbursts on the Facebook owned Instagram platform. Wiley posted unapologetic videos, insulted the "Toosie Slide" rapper Drake, and shared a host of provoking images.
UPDATE #3: Wiley's manager John Woolf announced in a tweet: "Following Wiley's antisemitic tweets today we at @A_ListMGMT have cut all ties with him. There is no place in society for antisemitism." Woolf had been in contact with the artist, but failed to "educate" him as he wanted.
Regarding Woolf, a Jewish man, some audiences believe that a "fall out" between the pair may have been the cause of his racially fuelled opinions.
UPDATE #4: Jewish celebrities including the "Countdown" host Rachel Riley and comedian David Baddiel expressed their anger online. As Wiley's remarks where left to permeate without the intervention of censors, the stars urged platforms to terminate the Grime artists accounts immediately, and wondered how it hadn't been done prior virality.
UPDATE #5: The Metropolitan Police have begun an investigation surrounding Wiley's antisemitic remarks. A spokeperson for Metropolitan Police officers in Tower Hamlets said in a Twitter statement: "We have received a number of reports relating to alleged anti-Semitic tweets posted on social media. The Met takes all reports of anti-Semitism extremely seriously. The relevant material is being assessed."
UPDATE #6: There are growing calls for Wiley's social media accounts to be terminated. The Campaign Against Antisemitism has contacted the Cabinet Office to ask for his MBE be forfeited, for the "outpouring of anti-Jewish venom" they claimed.
UPDATE #7: Under the hashtag #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate, Jewish people and it's allies will stage a 48 hour walkout from Twitter from 0900hrs on Monday 27 July. This comes after the social media platform failed to act adequately against anti-Jewish sentiment.
UPDATE #8: A record label closely affiliated with Wiley known as Big Dada, have condemned the artist in a social media post. Big Dada said in a statement on Twitter: "We released some records by Wiley between 2007 and 2014. We fully condemn Wiley's comments and royalties from those records will be donated to campaigns that fight anti-Semitism."
UPDATE #9: Twitter and Instagram must be prepared to explain themselves to the home secretary Priti Patel, as she demands answers for their lack of censorship. Patel said Wiley's posts were antisemitic and "abhorrent," and questions why social media platforms failed to remove content quick enough.
UPDATE #10: According to the BBC, Facebook is the latest social media platform to ban the rapper Wiley after he posted abusive comments. The tech giant deleted the artist's Facebook and Instagram profiles after initially suspending them.
The posts, which were found on Wiley's personal Facebook page, targeted critics opposing Wiley's abusive language, and referenced the large Jewish community known as "Golders Green," in London. Wiley allegedly wrote:
"David Baddiel come and talk to my face"; "Listen Golders Green ring my sister and let's meet asap"; and "Who called the police? Are you from Golders Green? I am coming to sit down with you... Labyrinth you could come along as you have forgotten what colour you are."
Facebook's decision to remove Wiley's profiles comes after the rapper's antisemitic rants on Twitter and Instagram on Friday, and happened during the 48-hour boycott campaign #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate.
UPDATE #11: Twitter permanently suspends Wiley's account, five days after he shared a string of antisemitic tweets. The decision to ban Wiley comes after growing calls for tech giants to quickly purge hateful content from their platforms.
A Twitter spokesperson said: "Upon further investigation, our teams have permanently suspended the account in question for repeated violations of our hateful conduct policy.
"Let us be clear: hateful conduct has absolutely no place on our service and we strongly condemn anti-Semitism. We are sorry we did not move faster and are continuing to assess the situation internally."
Twitter added: "We deeply respect the concerns shared by the Jewish community and online safety advocates, and we will continue to work closely with government, NGOs, civil society partners and our industry peers to tackle anti-Semitism on Twitter."
The "Grime" legend's vocal mouthpieces including Facebook and Instagram, have banned the "Heatwave" rapper. Although Wiley's suspension was welcomed by many, some social media users wondered how Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson managed to spread hate for years before being removed.
Updates will continue as they come. From herein, the original article will continue to be read as initially broken on 24 July 2020.
The Godfather of "Grime" Richard Kylea Cowie Jr, professionally known as Wiley, has been accused of antisemitism after sharing a series of controversial tweets, likening the Jewish community to the KKK.
The 41-year-old "Boasty" artist, and chart-topping musician, posted a string of tweets on July 24, suggesting that Israel isn't the country of the Jewish people, as well as the Star of David associated with them.
The British rapper, who was appointed a (
In a tweet that received mixed responses, Wiley said: "Listen to me Jewish community Israel is not your country I'm sorry." The "Wearing My Rolex" lyricist then questioned whether it was antisemitic to contemplate the power of Jewish people, saying: "Is it anti semetic to say Jewish people have power ?" [sic].
In reference to the white supremacist group, the KKK, Wiley said: "Red Necks Are the KKK and Jewish people are the Law...Work that out."
To no one's surprise, there was an immediate backlash, and one user asked Wiley to not "put us in the same box." The Twitter user Josh Feldberg said: "Wiley. I love you mate but lots of jewish think very differently. Please dont put us in the same box."
Wiley replied saying: "All humans think different but when judgement day comes they will stand with their people."
In response to Wiley's return, the same user replied: "I stand with all humans. Dont care about ethnicity. And a lot of us jews despise what the state of israel does and campaign against what they do and have done to plaestinians. And we get shit for it too. But there are many of us" [sic].
Is it antisemitic to say Jewish people have power?
In response to Wiley's question, the self described socialist, antifascist and Guardian columnist Owen Jones, gave him an answer regarding the common antisemitic trope. The 35-year-old author of "Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class" said:
"The oldest antisemitic trope is that Jews wield disproportionate unaccountable power and are puppetmasters behind injustices and nefarious politicians. Antisemitism is essentially a collection of historically very deadly conspiracy theories," Jones wrote on Twitter.
Can Wiley Be Cancelled?
Probabaly not, but it won't stop organisations from attempting to make it happen. The Campaign Against Antisemitism, a group that exposes and counters antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law, wrote an article compelling the rapper to apologise, and rescind his views.
According to their website, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: "Likening Jews to the KKK is a hideous antisemitic slur, which Wiley can add to the antisemitic tropes he has tweeted about Jewish power and Jews in business.
"He joins a number of celebrities who have promoted antisemitic themes or individuals in recent weeks, some of whom have apologised and sought rehabilitation. Wiley must immediately do the same, otherwise no respectable label or manager should work with him ever again."
What Do You Think?
Dear Wiley, we're fans, but we're very concerned. In a conversation with a Twitter user pertinent to your views, we totally agreed with his response to one of our tweets. "You can't fight racism by being racist," and that's final in our point of view.
Join the conversation, as your opinion matters to us. Feel free to comment below or share this now by launching our share tools.
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