Kanye West has been relatively quiet since his anti-Semitic comments and other controversial behavior resulted in the loss of several business partnerships last fall. In that time, he’s apparently gotten married — though not legally — and been seen out with the children he shares with ex-wife Kim Kardashian. But his often-explosive Instagram account has remained silent, even after his reported 30-day ban was lifted late last year. This weekend he returned, however, with more comments about his feelings on Jewish people after watching 21 Jump Street, and co-director Chris Miller had his own response.
It was apparently Jonah Hill’s performance in the 2012 buddy comedy co-starring Channing Tatum that made Kanye West “like Jewish people again,” according to the disgraced rapper on Instagram. Christopher Miller — one half of the genius directing duo behind the 21 Jump Street adaptation, along with Phil Lord — posted a screenshot of Ye’s latest sentiments to his own Instagram account with the comment:
Um… thanks for watching?
Like the rest of us, it seems like Christopher Miller might not know exactly what to think of Ye’s supposed revelation and praise for Jonah Hill, who is Jewish. Keeping in line with the comments on Kanye West’s post, the reaction on Miller’s page was mixed, with some taking the opportunity to agree with the compliments given to the Moneyball actor and the decade-old comedy, and others commenting on West himself. Some said they continued to hope he’s getting the help he needs, and others said this post really didn’t change anything.
After initially posting the screenshot, Christopher Miller seemed to find more words to articulate his takeaway, and he hit the comments section of his post to say:
All it took was seeing a Jewish man praying to a Korean Jesus to scramble the brain of an antisemite so much he’d claim to not be antisemitic anymore in a still-antisemitic way.
If Kanye West is going to find true redemption for his past anti-Semitic comments, it’s likely going to take more than praising the performance of one Jewish actor in a movie. Also, plenty of people are probably intrigued to see if Ye is going to follow his words up with actions that would support this apparent change of heart.
The 24-time Grammy winner lost his billionaire status after Adidas and several other brands parted ways with him in the aftermath of numerous anti-Jewish comments. (Adidas itself lost over a billion dollars after dropping the rapper.) Vogue, Balenciaga, Def Jam and others also severed their relationships with Ye, who not only doubled down on his offensive statements but had also engaged in other controversial behavior at the time, including wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to a Paris fashion show and making false statements about George Floyd’s 2020 murder.
We’ll have to keep our eye on things to see if Kanye West is in fact trying to redeem himself in the eyes of the public. Yet in the meantime, you cans also enjoy Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum’s buddy cop action comedy, 21 Jump Street, which is available for streaming with a Netflix subscription. You can also see what other films are hitting theaters soon with our 2023 new movie release schedule.
