Wiley: If I Say I’m Sorry, Can I Get My Twitter Account Back?

by Hugh Fitzgerald

My, my. There have been so many of these cases. Various rap “artists” let loose with a farrakhanish farrago of antisemitism; protests are made; some are threatened with the loss of a social media platform and possible harm to their careers, so they turn around, seek some rabbi — ideally connected to the Wiesenthal Foundation — to set them straight, to educate them overnight about the Holocaust, so that they can then appear, supposedly having been set right, and claiming – with deeply feigned sincerity — that they “never meant” to be antisemitic, they are terribly sorry, there must be some mistake, they’ve been misunderstood or, in the alternative, they’ve misunderstood so much; they simply didn’t know about this Holocaust thing; “you mean, Jews have suffered, too? I never knew about any of that! If only I had!” — and then are declared to be suitably repentant, all is forgiven, and it’s back to the studio for that “artist,” while wearing in public for at least a day or two an expression of deep remorse.

Here’s the latest of these farcical tales. It concerns the British “rap artist” – artist, forsooth! – one Wiley, who apologized on Wednesday [July 29] and said he was not racist after posting a string of antisemitic comments on his social media accounts.

The rapper’s Twitter account, which had half a million followers, published a series of tweets last week asserting that Jews systematically exploited Black artists in the music industry, continuing a pattern of exploitation dating back to the slave trade.

Here’s more about “rap artist” Wiley:

A British rapper who goes by the stage name Wiley went on a Twitter rant on Friday about Jews and Israel, but later claimed he was not antisemitic.

The artist, whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie Jr., wrote in a series of Twitter posts about how the Jewish community was “too touchy” and that “Israel is not yours I will not stop saying it I don’t care.”

He said, “Israel is ours who wants to talk about that ?” He then shared a screenshot of a Yahoo Image search for “german no jews allowed sign,” and one enlarged sign that says “NO dogs, colored, Mexicans, Jews, Irish.”

Don’t try it with me just Cos you made it off the list pic.twitter.com/oLKg40gsnT

— Wiley (@WileyCEO) July 24, 2020

The 41-year-old, who released his album “Boasty Gang” in June, also compared the Jewish community to the Ku Klux Klan.

He tweeted, “If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in anyway of course you will get fired.” He then added, “Infact [sic] there are 2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK but being in business for 20 years you start to undestand [sic] why.”

“Is it anti semetic to say Jewish people have power?” he asked. “The Law [Jews] hides behind the police who are the KKK.”

Had enough? No, you need to read just a little bit more of his tweets, to understand how Wiley’s addled brain thinks, or thinks it thinks:

“Red Necks are the KKK and Jewish People are the Law…work that out.”

“Infact when I look around the whole Mediterranean Sea I can see the truth.”

‘‘The system is litteraly corrupt.”

“The Star of David that’s our ting.”

“Listen to me Jewish community Israel is not your country. I’m sorry.”

“Israel does not belong to you.”

“I don’t care about Hitler, I care about black people.”

For a few days Wiley continued to defend his posts. But then a boycott was announced against social media — Twitter and Facebook and Instagram — for not quickly removing his posts, for continuing to provide Wiley with a platform. Once they had a chance to consider the effect of that boycott, all three social media companies decided that boycott might hurt the only thing they care about, which is money, whatever else they say, and they decided to ban Wiley permanently. For Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, it was all about the Benjamins.

Then it was Wiley’s turn to suddenly see the light. A Damascene conversion, prompted by his realization that without his connection to his fans on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, his career would suffer. So would his income. And that would never do. For Wiley, too, it’s all about the Benjamins.

Some press flack carefully wrote out a statement for him – the new and improved Wiley, sincerely chastened, deeply remorseful – to read when he was interviewed on Sky News. Here’s some of what he said:

The artist insisted: “I’m not racist.”

The artist”? How about instead, less laudably and more truthfully, the “rapper”?

Then another de rigueur remark, that he could not possibly have composed, written for him by that PR flack:

“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 anti-Semitic.”

Do these clowns really think we believe any of this?

Sky News reported that the offensive tweets were sparked by a falling-out between the rapper and his former manager, who is Jewish. The pair cut ties in recent days.

One more time in the same Sky News interview, again with words flack-supplied, and a slight variation in the wording:

“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.”

“I’m not racist, you know. I’m a businessman. My thing should have stayed between me and my manager, I get that.”

However, Wiley appeared in the interview to refuse to distance himself from most of the anti-Semitic comments he posted on social media. He couldn’t help himself.

Here are some of Wiley’s Twitter posts about Jews:

“My ex manager was South Africa/ Jewish and I promise you he taught me so much about how this all works I was shocked,” Wiley continued. “If you love the KKK or The Law that wrongfully just treats people like s*** you are my enemy…Yes.” He then again stated, “I don’t care Cos Israel is ours what about that.”

Wiley, who announced last month that he was retiring from music, subsequently denied being antisemitic. He said, “Kmt Anti Semitic I’m not falling for that stupidness” and also tweeted, “I’m not anti semetic I am anti slippery people there’s a difference.”

Here’s another of his antiemitic tweets:

“What do you do when you realise the people moaning about anti Semetic are actually the most racist ones out here ?” he asked his Twitter followers. “I will never apologise to anyone for speaking my mind I am not 1 of these people.”

Wiley said his disagreement was with his Jewish manager and he would hand back the UK government honor – an MBE given to him for his contribution to music in 2018.

What’s an MBE, you ask? It stands for “Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.” Wiley was given it for his hideous services to hideous rap. What better sign of civilizational collapse do you need?

So it is his manager, who is Jewish, and with whom he had a falling out, leading him – well, why not? It’s what antisemites do – to the conclusion that “all Jews” are thus and so.

He feels he has been ill-treated by his manager, but one might well think that it was his manager, all too aware of Wiley’s crude antisemitism, who finally decided that he had been ill-treated long enough by Wiley, and decided to quit.

Wiley “released a number one single in Britain in 2012 and had several other top 10 hits as a leading figure in grime music, a British genre of rap.”

“Grime music”? A “genre” of rap in which Wiley is a “leading figure.” Aptly named.

The rapper’s former manager John Woolf, who is Jewish, said he would no longer represent the artist [the “rapper”].

Wiley said: “I’m not racist, you know. I’m a businessman. My thing should have stayed between me and my manger. [sic] I get that.”

He’s a businessman. He’s apologized. Isn’t that enough? Does he have to mean it too? It’s all about the Benjamins.

Wiley also said that at 41, he was now ready to retire. For decent people, his retirement can’t come soon enough.

First published in Jihad Watch.