Quit Acting Like Kanye's Savior; He's Not A Victim

There is a narrative push to make Kanye West appear as the first billionaire who has ever been publicly ridiculed & canceled for his "speech" but they've forgotten about the publicly maligned former owner of the L.A. Clippers, Donald Sterling.

For people who aren't aware, Donald Sterling owned the NBA team the Los Angeles Clippers for decades until 2014 when a leaked audio tape of him making comments to his mistress about associating with black people in a public manner.

Huffington Post: LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling's Racist Rant Caught On Tape: Report

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people"

"Do you have to?"

He would later go on to use NBA great Magic Johnson as an example of one of the black people she's been associating with in a public manner.

As stated, this was a leaked tape that was recorded by his mistress and released by TMZ for public consumption. Quickly after the tape was released, there was an immediate backlash due to his racist rant.

The mainstream news and sports media were clearly outraged at what was stated & for days on end wanted to find advocating for his removal of ownership of the team. The players on the Clippers protested before the following game & threatened to not play if he wasn't removed.

The LA Clippers immediately started losing sponsorships like CarMax:

"CarMax finds the statements attributed to the Clippers' owner completely unacceptable. While we have been a proud Clippers sponsor for 9 years...these statements necessitate that CarMax end its sponsorship."

Donald Sterling was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP after donating money to the organization for years. After the leak, scrutiny was placed on the NAACP and the head of the L.A. NAACP would later resign over the controversy.

Every possible allegation of racism was explored, exposed, and used against him. Donald's own wife had to publicly disavow his statements and distance herself from the matter. In the end, the pressure was too much and he was forced to sell the NBA team.

People immediately discuss how he made billions on the deal to sell the team but miss out on the bigger picture of how his selling the team hurt him: exclusivity. There are lots of billionaires but there is exclusivity when it comes to owning a team. He had to give it up.

When you say something that most people dislike, you cannot be surprised there is a backlash. Not everything is a conspiracy, sometimes it is organic. Even today, no one is sad about Donald Sterling being forced to sell the team.

Once words leave your mouth, you cannot control how people interpret them and respond to those statements. A 9-minute rant changed Donald Sterling's life making him a social pariah and now Kanye is having to deal with a similar situation.

Corporations care about their image and have no problem disassociating with someone who is under public scrutiny for saying something hateful or appearing hateful. It is not a risk they generally want to make, even if that person has made them money.

Kanye overplayed his value when it came to his business dealings believing he is untouchable and that he can say whatever he wants without ramifications. Especially today, corporations care about their image just as much as their bottom line making Kanye discardable.

Kanye was able to make his money through creativity & working with corporate America but not necessarily through ownership like Donald Sterling, which meant Donald could ride into infamy with money in his pocket while Kanye is hemorrhaging it.

Kanye believes his cancelation is proof of Jewish people coming after him but this is not the first time someone has been canceled. Donald Sterling himself is Jewish. Even other Jewish people disavowed him. Where was this "cabal" with Donald?

Jewish News Syndicate: Donald Sterling is pathetic, but he doesn’t speak for all Jews

Would we say that the black cabal came for Donald Sterling or that generally, everyone felt that his statements were abhorrent regardless of ethnicity? Which makes more sense?

Let's not beat around the bush & state the obvious:

If Kanye wore a "Build Back Better" T-Shirt instead of a "MAGA" hat, many on the political right wouldn't care about his ex-communication. If Ibram X Kendi said the same thing, they'd be calling him an antisemite too.

I know this because Republicans went after Barrack Obama for meeting with Louis Farrakhan because they believe he's an antisemite. The fighters for free speech and free association tend to be all about it when it benefits their side.

Everyone is now suddenly a Kanye-whisperer as they do their best to translate his phraseology into what's palatable for their sensibilities. The people who talk about personal responsibility make excuses for his words and pretend he's a lone victim in a harsh society: he isn't.

We are always forgiving of words used by people we perceive as being on our side but that is partisan thinking. I am not a fan of canceling people, I am a free-speech advocate no matter the speech. Kanye should have the right to speak but he can't control how people react.

Hold Kanye accountable and stop filling in the blanks that he's creating. Be logical about all of this. If you owned a business, would you want to associate with someone you believe has abhorrent values? Where is your line? Racism? Antisemitism? Domestic Violence? Pedophilia?

Everyone has a line, it's just that you don't agree with the line that organizations are choosing to abide by.

Either way, Kanye knew that line existed & he chose to cross it. You can't claim he's a victim when he knowingly stepped over it & people reacted.

Quit acting like his "savior" and hold his feet to the fire for the words he says. If you actually care about someone, you'd provide fair criticisms about them.

So the question is, do you care about Kanye or just want to feel right?