Outcry over interview with hate rapper Wiley
V A FURTHER incendiary interview with the antisemitic rapper Wiley in which he suggested Jewish music industry executives viewed black artists “as slaves” has been removed from the internet after protests from the community,
An article published by the online British black newspaper The Voice gave the 41-year-old Grime star a further platform to air his inflammatory views about Jewish wealth and power.
But the piece also sparked further anger when the journalist Joel Campbell - arts and entertainment editor of The Voice - asked: “Within his ranting were there any salient points?”
The Board of Deputies led calls for newspaper to explain its decision to publish the interview along with comments by the journalist that suggested Wiley was “not alone in his thinking, that there is an unspoken systemic oppression that blights the lives of young black creatives”.
Mr Campbell also wrote that “the hypothesis that you need to get a Jewish lawyer in order to progress in the music business” had not been refuted or confirmed by “anyone Jewish”.
The Voice released a statement on Friday saying it “saddens us deeply that persons have implied that we are antisemitic”.
The paper removed the article from its website – but defended its decision to publish the piece.
The pop star Mark Ronson was amongst those to condemn the article. He tweeted: “Jews do not run the music business from some secret cabal” and added his own lawyer was an Italian – and that the record deal he had signed contained all the same “sh***y” terms as those agreed by Wiley.
On Tuesday, YouTube become the latest platform to remove Wiley’s channel after what it said were “repeated violations” of policy on content. It followed a similar ban last week by Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The rapper’s Twitter account, which had half a million followers, published tweets last month asserting that Jews systematically exploited black artists in the music industry, continuing a pattern of exploitation dating back to the slave trade.
No action was taken by Twitter over a 48-hour period, sparking protests and two-day long “walk-out” from the platform by the community in support of a #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate campaign.
Some of Wiley’s social media posts are being looked at by the Metropolitan Police to determine if they represent incitement to racial hatred.
The Voice removed the article — but defended its decision to publish