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Spotify Owner Slams Kanye West’s ‘Awful’ Antisemitic Rants—but Won’t Drop His Music

Swedish billionaire Daniel Ek says the rapper’s songs don’t “violate our policy.”

The owner of Spotify says the streaming giant won’t drop Kanye West’s music despite the rapper’s antisemitic outbursts in recent weeks. The rapper, who is now legally known as Ye, is currently hemorrhaging commercial partners in the wake of his shocking comments, which have included a tweet declaring he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek described Ye’s comments as “just awful,” adding that they would violate the platform’s policies if they’d been made on a podcast or a recording, but Ye’s songs don’t break the rules. “It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policy,” Ek said, adding, “It’s up to his label, if they want to take action or not.” Ek’s comments came after Adidas officially ended its enormously lucrative partnership with Ye on Tuesday, with the German sportswear brand saying it “does not tolerate antisemitism” or any other sort of hate speech.