American rapper Kanye West, otherwise known as Ye, has been facing backlash in the media due to his recent hateful and volatile behavior on social media platforms. Kanye has long been seen as a prominent artist of the 21st Century, but his recent actions beg the question: How do controversial celebrities influence our youth?
In early October, Kanye posted an antisemitic tweet saying, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” The post was later removed by Twitter for violating their policies, and his account was frozen soon after for similar reasons.
Kanye’s antisemitism doesn’t stop there. Sources close to the artist say that Kanye has a concerning admiration for Adolf Hilter and attempted to name his 2018 album, Ye, after the murderer. A business executive that worked with Kanye described to CNN how the rapper would praise Hitler, romanticizing the mass executions and destruction he and the Nazis brought to Germany. His obsession with Hilter and recent actions have caused him to lose partnerships with Adidas and Balenciaga.
So, with Kanye being a successful and influential figure in music and social media, how do his actions affect those who look up to him, especially youth?
Many young people love Kanye’s music and consequentially like him as a person, but after these recent events, it’s difficult to support someone that would publicly disrespect an entire religion. Unfortunately, people continue to support his art and uplift his ideas, saying things like “Kanye was right about the Jews.”
This trend of harmful celebrities in the media has been seen many times before. A more recent example would be Andrew Tate, social media influencer and former kickboxer. Tate gained immense popularity during the summer of 2022, appearing on podcasts and spreading his misogynistic gospel on Twitter. Tate has taken to the media his hate-filled views, saying that he needs authority over the women he dates and other inappropriate and outdated views on women.
People like Kanye and Tate severely harm today’s youth, as many teens on the internet idolize their favorite celebrities. Kanye and Tate both have large followings, and they have an astonishing influence over a large number of young people. This influence becomes problematic when their followers start to agree and act on the ideas spread by figures such as Kanye and Tate. Their speech affects the ideologies of young people, and this can cause major problems when these kids mature and enter the adult world.
For example, teens on TikTok like to idolize Kanye and Tate for all the wrong reasons, and especially because Andrew Tate’s following is male-dominated, his effect on his audience is enhanced. Tate’s beliefs damage boys’ minds and teach them to discriminate against women. Similarly, those who follow or admire Kanye might agree with his anti-Semitic messages, and Kanye’s openness about his beliefs allows his fans to feel that they can and should feel the same. This chain continues until it becomes a full-blown threat to the safety of people, and this applies to the audiences of Kanye, Tate, and any other celebrity with this kind of influence on their fans.
In an age of social media, it makes sense that young people idolize those they see on the internet. But the problem arises when they idolize the wrong people, the people that spread hate in the world through the minds of impressionable youth. Kanye West and Andrew Tate collected their fanbase online, Kanye through music and Tate through podcast appearances, and their actions as portrayed online influence their fans, damaging their morals and filling them with ideas that pollute their own minds.
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