Texas A&M Will No Longer Play Kanye West's 'Power' After Antisemitic Comments
October 27, 2022
In the wake of Kanye West's recent antisemitic comments, Texas A&M will no longer play one of his songs that has been a staple of their pregame football activities.
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork told reporters the school would stop playing "Power" during the Aggies' entrance for home games at Kyle Field.
"We've reviewed that situation for the last couple of weeks," Bjork said. "... We're pivoting away from that song."
West, who legally changed his name to Ye, made a series of antisemitic comments earlier this month. His Twitter account and Instagram accounts were locked for a period of time for violating their policy standards.
In a since-deleted post on West's Twitter account, he wrote he was going "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE."
Per Anna Merlan of MotherBoard.com, West made "numerous antisemitic sentiments" during a taping of Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News that were edited out of the broadcast version.
In an Oct. 11 statement to Justin Tinsley of Andscape.com, Maverick Carter said an episode of The Shop with West as a guest that was taped would not be broadcast because he continued "to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes."
Premier League club Bournemouth also announced on Thursday it would no longer play "Power" before games at its home stadium.
West has also been dropped by several of his partners recently, including Adidas, Gap and Foot Locker. Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown announced they were leaving Ye's marketing agency, Donda Sports.
"Power" was included on West's 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Texas A&M's football team has been using it as part of the pregame soundtrack for every home game since 2012.