British rapper Wiley, in anti-Semitism storm, says he is not racist after permanent Twitter ban for remarks posted online

The grime rapper, who made posts online comparing Jewish people to the Ku Klux Klan, apologised for ‘generalising’

Facebook deactivated his accounts and Twitter permanently banned him a day later, after a 48-hour boycott

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British grime star Wiley apologised for “generalising” after making anti-Semitic comments on social media.

Published: 12:15am, 31 Jul 2020Updated: 4:07am, 31 Jul 2020

British rap scene godfather Wiley apologised for “generalising” but refused to distance himself completely from anti-Semitic posts that got him permanently banned by Twitter.

“I’m not racist, you know. I’m a businessman,” Wiley told Sky News on Wednesday after Twitter made its temporary suspension of the artist permanent.

“My comments should not have been directed to all Jews or Jewish people. I want to apologise for generalising, number one, and I want to apologise for comments that were looked at as anti-Semitic.”

The 41-year-old east Londoner – born Richard Cowie but known to his fans as the “godfather of grime” – is one of the most popular and successful British rappers. Wiley is credited with helping the genre spread from London and reach global fame with artists such as Stormzy.

The rapper known for tracks such as Wearing My Rolex had half a million followers before Twitter suspended him for seven days last Friday for a series of posts that compared the Jewish community to the Ku Klux Klan. Other messages said Jews controlled business interests and should get out of Israel because it “is not your country”.

Wiley also shared his video rant on the Facebook-owned images platform Instagram.

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