Kanye West paid settlement to former employee after praising Hitler in meetings

Kanye West paid a settlement to a former employee after complaints that the disgraced rap superstar praised Adolf Hitler in business meetings, a report said on Wednesday.

According to documents reviewed by NBC News, West, who now goes by Ye, paid the former worker who claimed the musician complimented Hitler or Nazis. West denied the claims in the settlement, the outlet reported.

Multiple people who worked with West or dealt with him in professional settings over the last five years told NBC News that he brought up conspiracy theories about Jewish people and spoke positively about the disgraced Nazi dictator.

Three ex-employees or collaborators reportedly said there were numerous instances when he used anti-Semitic language and another three people discussed a 2018 incident when West went on an anti-Semitic rant while at TMZ’s offices.

Conceptual artist Ryder Ripps, who worked with West for five years until 2018, said the “All of the Lights” performer brought up the ugly conspiracy theories and commended Nazis during meetings in 2018, NBC News reported.

“He had told me a bunch of s— about like, how ‘Nazis are good at propaganda,” Ripps told the outlet, while also saying West claimed, “Jews have codes.”

Ripps, who is Jewish, reportedly said West asked him, “You’re not offended that like I’m interested in Nazis or something,” in reference to an upset Jewish employee.

“With this pattern that’s happening and with the doubling and tripling down of all this, it’s pretty obvious that this is some kind of disgusting, hate-filled, strange Nazi obsession,” Ripps also told the news outlet.

An ex-employee of West told NBC News they heard West bring up Hitler and Nazis in casual talk.

“I feel like he was just kind of like looking around, like seeing like, how are people reacting?” the ex-employee explained. “He would say ‘I even love Hitler’ and then he would like pause for reactions.” 

Reps for West did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

A CNN report last week said West was accused of creating a hostile work environment, in part, because he was obsessed with Hitler, according to a business executive who worked for West. The business exec landed a settlement with West over the workplace complaints, CNN reported.

NBC News said the settlement it reported on Wednesday appears to be different from the settlement CNN outlined.

Companies have fled from West following his anti-Semitic remarks last month, including Adidas which ended its 10-year relationship with the Yeezy designer. The famous wax museum Madame Tussauds London even pulled his wax figure from its viewing.

“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” West wrote in an Oct. 9 tweet.

West also shared since-deleted screenshots on Instagram of a text conversation in which he accused Sean Combs, better known as Diddy, of being controlled by the Jewish media.

Last month a former TMZ producer asserted on his podcast West said he “loved Hitler and the Nazis” while talking at TMZ’s headquarters.

“I mean, I was taken aback because that type of anti-Semitic talk is disgusting. But as far as him, I knew that that was in him because when came to TMZ, he said that stuff and they took it out of the interview,” recounted journalist Van Lathan.

Three unnamed people backed up Lathan’s story about West using anti-Semitic words at TMZ, according to the NBC News report.