Wiley apologises for ‘generalising’ Jewish people in antisemitic tweets
Disgraced rapper Wiley has apologised for “generalising” Jewish people after a string of offensive tweets, but has refused to acknowledge his comments were antisemitic.
The British rapper went on a two-day Twitter tirade starting on Friday, calling Jewish people “cowards and snakes”, asserting they controlled the justice system and compared the Jewish community to the Ku Klux Klan.
When called out for the racist messages, Wiley doubled down and continued to tweet offensive things about the Jewish community.
The Grime artist has been referred to the police by various groups to police for hate speech.
He has since been dropped by his manager and record label, and banned from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Speaking to Sky News today, he said the tweets came after a conflict with his manager, and claimed he was “not racist”.
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“I just want to apologise for generalising and going outside of the people who I was talking to within the workspace and workplace I work in,” he said.
“My comments should not have been directed to all Jews or Jewish people. I want to apologise for generalising, and I want to apologise for comments that were looked at as antisemitic.”
When Sky News asked him if he accepted the Tweets were antisemitic, Wiley said: “My comments should not have been directed to all Jews or Jewish people.”
Twitter has been subject to a boycott over the past two days for being slow to censure Wiley for his comments on the platform and at first only giving him a five-day ban.
The social media giant has since gone further and deleted his account.
The Board of Deputies, a Jewish advocacy group, said: “It is just not good enough. Social media companies have not been strong or fast enough about tackling racism, misogyny or homophobia.
“We will be talking to Twitter today, and other social media companies and government partners over the coming days, to make sure this does not happen again.”