Outrage as music star Akon DEFENDS Kanye West for saying he ‘loved’ Nazis and admired Adolf Hitler

Akon has been accused of ‘spitting in the face of Jewish people’ after defending Kanye West and saying his anti-Semitic comments do not trouble him ‘because they do no affect me personally.’ 

The Senegalese-American singer, 49, made the comments on Sky News’ Breakfast show on Friday morning, telling anyone offended by the remarks to ‘not take things too personally.’ 

It came after Kanye, aka Ye, 45, heaped praise on Adolf Hitler and said people needed to ‘stop dissing the Nazis’ in a disturbing interview with far-right pundit Alex Jones this week. 

The father, who shares four children with Kim Kardashian, also denied the Holocaust, telling Jones and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who also appeared on the InfoWars show: ‘The Holocaust is not what happened… he didn’t kill six million Jews, that’s just factually incorrect.’ 

Senegalese-American rapper Akon, 49, made the comments on Sky News’ Breakfast show on Friday morning, telling anyone offended by Kanye’s remarks to ‘not take things too personally’ 

Kanye West makes bizarre appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars (picturd together) where he says 'I see good things about Hitler'

Kanye West makes bizarre appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars (picturd together) where he says ‘I see good things about Hitler’ 

Akon was asked by Sky News presenter Anna Jones to explain his continued support for Kanye despite his shocking statements. 

He said: ‘I show support for opinion and I think people will always have a specific opinion and I think the moment we get to the place where we close our minds up to other people’s opinion, it kind of doesn’t allow us to get to better know each other…

‘I think sometimes we should open up our minds and let things play all the way out and better understand the situation.’ 

He said he was ‘a backer of the right to believe what you want to believe’ and said he would let Kanye know he disagreed with him if they had a conversation, but that ‘communication is key’.

When asked if the comments made by Kanye troubled him, he said: ‘Not really because those comments don’t really affect me personally… and if it does affect you personally then find a way to actually respond in a way to where that conversation can be reciprocated.

Akon's comments in defence of Kanye were branded 'appalling', 'shocking' and 'absolutely vile' by social media users

Akon’s comments in defence of Kanye were branded ‘appalling’, ‘shocking’ and ‘absolutely vile’ by social media users

Who is Akon? ‘Smack That’ singer is father-of-six, entrepreneur, philanthropist… and diamond mine owner 

Akon, real name Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam, is a Senegalese-American singer and entrepreneur. 

The 49-year-old shot to fame with his debut single Locked Up in 2004, followed up by the equally successful Lonely. 

He also enjoyed success with Smack That, featuring Eminem, I wanna Love You, featuring Snoop Dogg and Right Now (Na Na Na), which all featured on his thrice Grammy nominated album Konvicted. 

Akon was born in Missouri but grew up in Senegal, which he describes as his ‘hometown’, where he learnt five instruments including the drums and djembe. 

He is a father of six by three different women, which he says he has great relationships with. 

After finding success, he launched the Akon Lighting Africa project in 2014, which provides electricity in 15 countries on the continent. 

He also announced plans in 2018 for Akon City, a $6bn project with the Senegalese government to build a futuristic tourist city, complete with a cryptocurrency-based economy using Akoin. He said last month that it would begin taking in residents in 2026. 

However away from his philanthropic efforts, he has come under scrutiny for owning a diamond mine in South Africa. 

The industry in the country is notoriously rife with poor and abusive working conditions, as well often having dire environmental impacts.

When quizzed on whether he was profiting off of ‘blood diamonds’, he said he did not believe they existed. 

He later accepted that they do but insisted he is the partial-owner of an African mine that is dedicated to avoiding the use of blood diamonds while also donating profits to local communities. 

‘I think sometimes when someone is offended they just lash out in defence, or lash out to make that person feel the same offence that they felt, and I think when you take negative and apply a response negatively, you will only get negative back.

He added: ‘Don’t take things too personally yet until you understand the situation.’ 

His comments were branded ‘appalling’,  ‘shocking’ and ‘absolutely vile’ by social media users. 

One tweeted: ‘Those comments don’t affect him personally?! … That is spitting in the face of Jewish people everywhere. Hate is hate, not an opportunity for learning.’ 

Another fumed: ‘This is so disgusting, he is making excuses for Nazis apologists with a smile on his face, how can anybody give people platforms to speak about it and relay Nazi ideology?!’ 

One fan said while Akon’s ‘goal to listen to people’ was ‘admirable’, this was the ‘completely inappropriate context to do so’, adding: ‘What Kanye said is wrong, full stop.’ 

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Akon for comment.

Kanye’s shocking interview this week saw him wearing a fabric mask that covered his entire face.

In it he ranted: ‘I see good things about Hilter… every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.’

Later, he said the Germans ‘had a really good leader at one point’, and denied that Hitler had ordered the deaths of six million Jews. 

‘He didn’t kill six million Jews. That’s just factually incorrect,’ West said in what were by some measure, his most anti-Semitic remarks to date.

‘I’m not trying to be shocking. I like Hitler. The Holocaust is not what happened… Hitler has a lot of redeeming qualities,’ he said. 

Even Jones, who is no stranger to controversy, seemed visibly uncomfortable at times throughout the three hour broadcast. 

He encouraged Kanye to take off his mask and repeatedly asked him what time his flight was, insisting that he does not like Hitler. 

He also however tried to minimize the live, escalating backlash, saying critics were trying to ‘censor’ the rapper, and celebrated the fact that it was his most-watched broadcast of 2022. 

During the show, the House Judiciary Committee deleted an old tweet praising West, saying ‘enough is enough’. 

West acted out a fake conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu, talked about his divorce from Kim Kardashian and turning to alcohol and ‘threesomes’ afterwards, and referred to a 2024 presidential campaign as a ‘walk to the [White] House.’ 

He also made repeated reference to Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel who is also Jewish, claiming he tried to ‘ruin his life’ and goading him with anti-Semitic remarks. 

‘If they go and 5150 me and try to lobotomize me, or they put me in prison, it just proves what I’m saying and it’s going to spark the high schools, grammar schools, colleges that say enough is enough. 

‘I have the right to speak out loud.

‘That is our first amendment and it’s a shame that you have to be considered to be on the spectrum to have enough courage to speak out loud. 

‘You guys have beaten me to a pulp but I’m not afraid. You can call me crazy, you can take the money…but Jesus is king and I love everyone. This is love speech.’ 

‘I love Jewish people, I love supermodels,’ he said.   

The pair were joined by white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who had lunch with West and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Agreeing with Fuentes, West said he was ‘pro Putin’ and ‘pro-Russia’, and he defended Balenciaga against claims of exploiting children, saying: ‘Everyone in the sex business is as bad as the paedophiles.’ 

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