British Rapper Claims He’s Not Antisemitic After Twitter Rant Against Jews, Israel
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Wiley on stage on day 1 of the Fusion Festival, in Cofton Park in Birmingham, England, Aug. 31, 2013. Photo: Katja Ogrin / Reuters.
A British rapper who goes by the stage name Wiley went a Twitter rant on Friday about Jews and Israel, but later claimed he was not antisemitic.
The artist, whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie Jr., wrote in a series of Twitter posts about how the Jewish community was “too touchy” and that “Israel is not yours I will not stop saying it I don’t care.”
He said, “Israel is ours who wants to talk about that ?” He then shared a screenshot of a Yahoo Image search for “german no jews allowed sign,” and one enlarged sign that says “NO dogs, colored, Mexicans, Jews, Irish.”
Don’t try it with me just Cos you made it off the list pic.twitter.com/oLKg40gsnT
— Wiley (@WileyCEO) July 24, 2020
The 41-year-old, who released his album “Boasty Gang” in June, also compared the Jewish community to the Ku Klux Klan.
He tweeted, “If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in anyway of course you will get fired.” He then added, “Infact [sic] there are 2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK but being in business for 20 years you start to undestand [sic] why.”
“Is it anti semetic to say Jewish people have power?” he asked. “The Law hides behind the police who are the KKK.”
Twitter posts uploaded by Wiley.
“My ex manager was South Africa/ Jewish and I promise you he taught me so much about how this all works I was shocked,” Wiley continued. “If you love the KKK or The Law that wrongfully just treats people like s*** you are my enemy…Yes.” He then again stated, “I don’t care Cos Israel is ours what about that.”
Wiley, who announced last month that he was retiring from music, subsequently denied being antisemitic. He said, “Kmt Anti Semitic I’m not falling for that stupidness” and also tweeted, “I’m not anti semetic I am anti slippery people there’s a difference.”
“What do you do when you realise the people moaning about anti Semetic are actually the most racist ones out here ?” he asked his Twitter followers. “I will never apologise to anyone for speaking my mind I am not 1 of these people.”
