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Jamie Lee Curtis had a tearful response after reading Kanye West’s comments about the Jewish community.
Grammy-winning rapper Kanye, 45, has come under fire over the past week for wearing a White Lives Matter shirt and proceeding to make allegedly anti-semitic comments on social media, prompting Twitter to block his account and Instagram to restrict his posts.
Twitter took action and removed a tweet from the rapper that ‘violated rules’ on Saturday, and reportedly featured him writing: ‘I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.’
Reacting to the remark, Jamie, 63, said: ‘I woke up and burst into tears.’
The Halloween Ends actress appeared tearful as she continued: ‘“DEFCON 3 on Jewish people?” What are you doing?
‘I mean, it’s bad enough that fascism is on the rise around the world. But on Twitter, on a portal, to pour that in? As if Jewish people haven’t had it hard enough?’
Jamie Lee Curtis reveals she burst into tears after reading Kanye West’s tweet about the Jewish community (Picture: NBC/Today Show / BACKGRID)
The Halloween Ends actress said the tweet was ‘abhorrent’ and made her think of her grandparents who were Jewish (Picture: NBC/Today Show / BACKGRID)
The tweet particularly caused Jamie upset as her late father, Tony Curtis, was was the son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants, and this is who she thought about when reading Kanye’s alleged comments.
Speaking to Hoda Kotb on The Today Show on Monday, Jamie continued: ‘It’s just abhorrent. It’s abhorrent behaviour. I hope he gets help. I hope his children get help from him. It’s terrible.’
Kotb noted that in all the years she has met and interviewed, she has never seen Jamie’s eyes ‘well up’ with tears.
The Hollywood icon went on: ‘And if we aren’t reacting, who are we?’
Kanye West has been unapologetic in his controversial comments in recent weeks (Picture: FilmMagic)
The rapper sparked outrage among the Black community when he wore a White Lives Matter shirt, denouncing the Black Lives Matter movement (Picture: Yeezy, Kanye West)
‘What does it say about people who aren’t reacting? Who woke up and read that and thought, “Oh, what are you having for breakfast?” It’s a big concern.’
In the full tweet attributed to Kanye, the Gold Digger rapper reportedly wrote: ‘I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.
‘The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.’
Jamie directly replied before it was removed and told him: ‘The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide.
‘Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop.’
Jamie is currently starring in Halloween Ends, the final instalment of the latest trilogy in the classic franchise, and noted the parallels in Jewish people being victimised and the witchhunt that unfolds in the horror movie.
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The Halloween actress was shocked to read Kanye’s comments about the Jewish community.