In an op-ed published Wednesday at CNN, Ernest Owens, editor of Philadelphia magazine’s G Philly and CEO of Ernest Media Empire, LLC, said Kanye West should be denied a platform to express his opinion, the Daily Wire said.
“Yes, West is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” Owens wrote. “Suggesting that 400 years of slavery ‘sounds like a choice’ is simply not an opinion based in truth. Anyone who chooses to seek any fact in his statement is abandoning reason altogether. But this is where the cult of celebrity has gotten us. Our President, a former reality television star, has a hard time separating fact from fiction — and now his new fan Kanye clearly does too.
“While President Trump’s position makes it harder to shut down his questionable statements, it shouldn’t be too difficult to do that for West. It’s time Americans of conscience seriously reconsider the role we play in giving celebrities a platform to espouse lies — especially at a time when everyone needs the truth more than ever,” Owens said.
He added:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
The time has come to stop amplifying his platform when he continues to misconstrue facts and distract the public from truth. Shutting him down is not a matter of censoring opinions; it’s a matter of being responsible in how we elevate or endorse the cult of celebrity in situations that further espouse toxic lies. At this point, any outlet that continues to allow Kanye West a platform to knowingly speak such misinformation is either enabling the former or exploiting his celebrity status for ratings.
Translation: Kanye can HOLD whatever opinion he wants, but he shouldn’t be allowed to actually say them in public unless they’re approved by our liberal speech overlords.
By Owens’ definition, there’s a number of people at CNN who wouldn’t be allowed to speak…
Writing at the Daily Wire, Joseph Curl countered:
While West is not, of course, entitled to his own facts, he certainly is entitled to his own opinions. Anyone within earshot of what he has to say is also entitled to decide for himself or herself what they think of Kanye’s comments.
The idea that a famous rapper needs to be silenced, though, is absurd. And while Owens writes that “Kanye should spend less time on Twitter striving to provoke, and invest more time in a history class where he can do something many of would prefer — listen to facts,” maybe Owens should take a quick peek at the Constitution, which guarantees all Americans the right to freedom of speech — regardless of whether you agree with them.
But that’s not the liberal way — at least not any more. Years ago, liberals used to say, ‘I may not agree with you, but I’ll defend to the death your right to speak your opinion.’ Now, they’re openly telling us, ‘Agree with us or be silenced.’
We see this all the time on social media, and it seems CNN agrees.
Related:
- Maxine Waters tries to silence Kanye West: He ‘talks out of turn,’ needs help thinking
- The Democrats’ worst nightmare: Blacks thinking for themselves
- Washington Post calls Kanye West an ‘alt-right darling’
- This is CNN: Destroy Trump by any means necessary
- CNN’s April Ryan trashes Sarah Huckabee Sanders with fighting words, implies fist fight
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