Kanye West should lose his honourary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, according to backers of an online petition.
The antisemitic rapper, who is now known as Ye, has gone on a string of shocking rants and last week admitted that he “liked”Adolf Hitler in an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
West, who grew up in Chicago, was awarded the honourary degree by the school in 2015. He attended the American Academy of Art and Chicago State University before dropping out at the age of 20 to pursue his music career.
The change.org petition, which says that the degree “bestows the legitimacy and lustre of the School” on West went live last week and as of Tuesday morning had more than 1,200 signatures.
“Regardless of his contributions prior to receipt of this award, it is harmful to allow Ye, as he is presently known, to continue to use the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to help legitimize hatred and violence.”
The petition called on SAIC President Elissa Tenny to immediately rescind the honourary degree.
The Independent has reached out to SAIC for comment.
West was widely condemned for his latest antisemitic comments during the shocking interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
It came on the heels of a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Donald Trump, to which the rapper brought Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, who is also now an adviser.
West, who has been dumped by the likes of Adidas, GAP and Balenciaga following a string of antisemitic comments, repeatedly praised the Nazi leader during his appearance on the show last Thursday morning.
Despite efforts by Mr Jones to say he did not believe West was a Nazi, the hip-hop star cut him off and insisted he was a fan of the man who oversaw the murder of millions of Jews.
“You’re not Hitler, you’re not a Nazi, so you don’t deserve to be demonised,” Mr Jones told West, who was bizarrely wearing a black hood over his face in the studio.
West, who was seemingly not prepared to accept the attempt by Mr Jones to denounce Nazism, replied: “Well, I see good things about Hitler also.”
