Antonio Brown Defends Kanye West

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While brands like Addidas, GAP and G.O.O.D. Music are severing ties with the artist formerly known as Kanye West, NFL receiver and Donda staffer Antonio Brown is defending Ye and championing him as a free thinker being held down by—uh—”the world” I guess.

From TMZ:

The NFL receiver — who joined the Donda staff earlier this year — addressed the massive controversy surrounding Kanye following several anti-Semitic statements … saying, “the world’s reactionary and selective outrage at comments in the media made by my brother, Ye, have inflamed and sparked rampant conversation and reflection.”

As companies like Adidas and Balenciaga cut ties with West, AB says the timing is not a coincidence.

“The people and brands that have relentlessly profited from Black ideas and Black culture chose to distance themselves at a very specific time: a time that demonstrated their prioritization of certain groups over others.”

Sure, that’s one way of looking at it.

You could even argue that brands had much more tolerance for Ye’s anti-Black comments—which disrespected the ancestors and gave credence to the idea that George Floyd wasn’t murdered—than they had for Ye’s antisemitism.But another way of looking at it is Black Kanye defenders are vehemently defending him despite his anti-Blackness and then wondering why brands weren’t dropping him while he was being anti-Black.But whatever, I’ma let Brown finish.

“None of us in this world are free of judgment, yet we live in a time where scrutiny and pessimism have driven our dialogues on cultural issues toward diatribes,” he continued. “Sensationalism and groupthink have forced people to not speak their minds and act out in fear rather than love. For these reasons, I stand by my dedication to freedom of speech, thought, and opinion.”

People like Brown need to understand that it’s entirely possible for opposing opinions to both be popular. Kanye’s opinions aren’t original. For example, millions of (mostly white) people have said Floyd died from an overdose, not police brutality. Plenty of people share antisemitic comments constantly. All of this also constitutes “groupthink” if we’re defining the term as narratives shared by the ideological masses.

In fact, Brown himself is just a raindrop in the sea of people on social media who will blindly defend Ye no matter what he says. So, Brown is also part of “groupthink.”

Brown probably thinks he’s being a provocative “free thinker” by posting “all lives matter” to Instagram. But we’ve been listening to fragile white people shouting those words for nearly a decade in response to Black Lives Matter. It’s nothing new. It’s no more controversial than the very concept of BLM itself. It doesn’t take any measure of bravery to say it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjX33BOAhcI/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=d02f53cc-a0b9-4813-92b3-1b93841b5cee

At the end of the day, brands don’t have to keep dealing with someone who might be bringing them negative attention. That’s not Jewish oppression, that’s just good business sense.

Still, Antonio Brown is letting it be known that he will not be “canceling” Ye.

“I remain true to the mission of Donda and our amazing staff and community,” he said. “I remain committed to bringing new ideas, experiences, and designs to our world I remain in support of the humanity that is Ye.”

These people really just love to put Yeezus up on the cross. Besides possibly mental illness, the only thing Ye is suffering from is the consequences of his own actions.

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