Jamie Lee Curtis shared her intense reaction to Kanye West’s antisemitic tweet on The Today Show. The actor joined Hoda Kotb on the NBC morning show Monday to promote her upcoming horror sequel Halloween Ends, when the host asked Curtis about her recent tweet in response to West’s shocking statement.
“I burst into tears,” Curtis said of learning about the rapper’s antisemitic social media post, her voice trembling. “What are you doing? It’s bad enough that fascism is on the rise around the world, but… on Twitter… as if Jewish people haven’t had it hard enough?”
Jamie Lee Curtis addresses her online response to Kanye West’s anti-Semitic posts on social media, saying West’s posts were “just abhorrent.”
“I hope he gets help,” she said. pic.twitter.com/MJ7ejgMjlq
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 10, 2022
On Saturday, West tweeted that he was “going death con 3” on Jewish people.
“The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also,” the tweet continued. “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone who opposes your agenda.”
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Twitter removed the post for violating its guidelines, but Curtis posted a screenshot of the tweet along with her reaction on Sunday.
“The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter,” Curtis, whose father Tony Curtis was Jewish, wrote. “A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop.”
The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop. pic.twitter.com/8iFuKwwspw
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) October 9, 2022
Of course, Curtis was far from the only celebrity to condemn West’s tweet. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Charlemagne Tha-God, Jimmy Kimmel, Jack Antonoff, and Ellen Barkin were among the many voices slamming West’s antisemitic words. Ariana Grande also shared Curtis’s Today Show comments in her Instagram stories.
There is absolutely no room in this country or world for antisemitism. It is important to see how harmful + dangerous Kanye’s words are – not only to our Jewish brothers, sisters, & siblings, but also to our collective society at large.
We must reject this 🚮 wherever we see it.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 10, 2022
“You might as well call him K-K-Kanye at this point.” Charlemagne Tha God slams Kanye West. pic.twitter.com/4J3lKzhkpN
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 10, 2022
Tucker puckers up to Kanye… pic.twitter.com/7we43IfJUC
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) October 11, 2022
kanye a little bitch
— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) October 10, 2022
Kanye West’s disturbing and dangerous threat to Jewish people is not only antisemitic and a continuation of his mental health free fall… it’s also an act of domestic terrorism.
— Billy Baldwin (@BillyBaldwin) October 10, 2022
“Death” con 3?
Boy these morons are dumb.
— Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) October 9, 2022
Others, meanwhile, criticized what they saw as a lack of condemnation for West’s tweet.
Why no response to Kanye West’s threats against Jews? Don’t try to hide behind, “You know he’s nuts.”
He threatened death. His excuse was that Jews held him back. Does he strike you as someone who has been held back?
Ignore hate speech & you are partly responsible for it.— Harvey Fierstein (@HarveyFierstein) October 11, 2022
Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on twitter and it’s not even trending. Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) October 9, 2022
Comedian Sarah Silverman particularly came under fire for her comments, which many interpreted as a lack of appreciation for Black Twitter’s reaction to West’s antisemitism.
I am a Jew. I know what you see. I see it too. But I think it’s more a matter of you saying no one defended the Jews against Kanye, when most of Black Twitter came to our defense.
— Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) October 10, 2022
West’s tweet came after Meta restricted access to his Instagram account and removed some of the content he’d posted for violating the app’s policies. The troubled musician and fashion designer also drew widespread condemnation for wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt alongside right-wing pundit Candace Owens during Paris Fashion week.
