The rapper, who changed his legal name to Ye, has been the subject of much discussion in the last week, facing heavy criticism for wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt to his Yeezy brand fashion show, and later making several comments on his Instagram that were condemned by many within the Jewish community, including watchdog group StopAntisemitism.

He then took to Twitter over the weekend, posting a tweet that was later removed after it “violated the service’s policies against hate speech.”

In a series of messages, Ye 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.”

He was then locked from his Twitter and Instagram accounts, and many—including celebrities, politicians, scholars, and social justice groups—have spoken out against West, some highlighting the harmful effect that the “Donda” rapper’s words have on Black and Jewish communities in America.

Actor and activist Malynda Hale told Newsweek, “Words matter because words are a gateway to actions, and if you are starting to perpetuate this type of vocabulary and saying things like ’tomorrow morning, I’m going DEFCON three on Jewish people,’ that is making it open season on the entire Jewish community with the millions of followers that you have.”

DEFCON 3 is a defense readiness condition, a heightened alert status used by the U.S. Military.

“I’m sort of over the defending of the bullying and not showing compassion or having empathy for these groups that are asking people to denounce these statements and to stand up against it and to stop following,” said Hale. “In 2022, who you follow, what you like, and what you comment on in support of can be seen by everybody and it makes a difference, and it can hurt people that you claim to love and that you claim to care about and I think people really need to be cognizant about that.”

For Hale, Ye’s influence on millions of fans around the world is another great concern. “I know we can get into the conversation of trying to separate the artist from the art, but at a certain point, they do go hand in hand because he’s using the platform now that was built from his artistry to perpetuate these terrible stereotypes, this harmful rhetoric, this hate, this bigotry, and now people are looking at him that have idolized him, thinking, Well, if he’s thinking this way, maybe this is something I should consider.”

His comments on Instagram were made to his current 18.1 million followers and on Twitter, he currently has 31.4 million.

“In that position, you have influence,” Hale said. “So it’s irresponsible and it’s destructive what he is doing because there are people that look up to him. There are people that probably don’t have role models or somebody that they can look to, but they’ve followed Kanye and they’ve watched his hustle, they’ve watched how he’s grown and really crafted his own career. So what he says matters for those people.”

Singer-songwriter and Executive committee member of the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance, Autumn Rowe, told Newsweek, “It’s hurtful and disappointing and really difficult to watch on on many layers. And now there’s this added fear amongst different groups of people.”

“We’re not existing in a world as solo beings,” said Rowe. “We’re existing with billions of other people. And it’s socially, incredibly irresponsible, and selfish to put out messages which could endanger other people.”

Rowe explained that West may be helping society move backward several steps in the journey our culture has taken to get rid of racist and hateful rhetoric.

“It makes people a little bit more comfortable with saying racist things, things that a few years ago, people just wouldn’t even dare to say or to do in certain places in this world, but now they’re feeling like it’s okay…I think at a certain point when somebody hurts you so much, you just wash your hands of them,” she said.

“There’s so many more important matters of the world, but this is what’s taking up our space right now, and this doesn’t deserve it,” Rowe added.

For Hale, there aren’t enough people speaking out against some of the things Ye has said recently. “I really need celebrities and public figures and influencers to just stand up and advocate for other people because, at the end of the day, that’s what’s right. It goes back to that clear difference between right and wrong and what is right is standing up for others.”