On Wednesday (October 19) Kanye West was interviewed by Piers Morgan, a British reporter and former CNN anchor. He questioned West about the anti-Semitic comments West posted on Twitter on October 8. He wrote that he would go against Jews in “death con 3”. He was referring to the American military term “defcon”, which has levels 1 to 5. In this context, level 3 means increased readiness to face a danger or to launch an attack yourself.
Morgan asks the rapper, “Are you sorry you said that?” “No, absolutely not,” West replies with a smile.
“I don’t think you fully understand how much pain you’ve caused with your comments…” the moderator begins before West interrupts him and says, “Oh my God! God forbid one comment could cause people to feel any of the pain that my people have went through for years.”
However, after some back and forth, Kanye West apologizes to people he’s hurt. “I’ve caused pain and confusion and I’m sorry for the families of people who were unrelated to the trauma I went through and for using my platform that says ‘hurt people hurt people’- and I was hurt.”
Piers Morgan said West’s apology shows he was aware of what he had done and knew he had “crossed a line”.
“I want to say that withholding an apology was wrong, and I need to let that go and let go of the trauma and say, ‘Look, I’m going to leave it to God from now on.’ And to the families that I’ve hurt, you know, I really want to give you guys a big hug and I want to say, “I’m sorry to hurt you with my comments,” Kanye ends the interview.
The rapper recently received media attention for his comments about the cause of George Floyd’s death on the Drink Champs podcast. Earlier, a former TMZ contributor reported that West had made anti-Semitic comments in the past.