British grime artist Wiley shocked the music industry yesterday (July 24) with a Twitter rant that has been widely condemned as antisemitic.
Wiley posted tweets to over 490,000 followers in which he described Jewish people as “cowards and snakes” and also appeared to compare the Jewish community to the Ku Klux Klan.
Wiley’s long-term manager, John Woolf, founder of A-List Management, confirmed earlier today (July 25) that he was ending his professional relationship with the artist following the outburst.
Woolf wrote on Twitter: “Following Wiley’s anti semitic tweets today we at [A-List Management] have cut all ties with him. There is no place in society for antisemitism.”
Yesterday, Woolf, who is Jewish, tweeted in the wake of Wiley’s tirade: “Judaism teaches that the concept of forgiveness constitutes one of the most essential fundamentals of the human relationship with God and with each other.”
Today, ADA, the distribution partner of Wiley’s CTA Records, also confirmed it was ending its relationship with the artist as a result of the tweets.
An ADA spokesperson said: “We oppose antisemitism and any form of discrimination and racism. While Wiley controls and releases his music through his own label, he has a digital distribution agreement with ADA and we are terminating that agreement.”
ADA distributes two albums released on CTA in the past few years, Godfather (2017) and Godfather II (2018).
Wiley’s two most recent albums, The Godfather III and Boasty Gang – The Album, were both released in June this year via the artist’s own Wiley Records, which does not have a relationship with ADA.
Wiley, often dubbed the ‘Godfather of Grime’ for his pioneering role in the genre, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music in the 2018 New Year Honours.
In May last year, he won the The Ivors Inspiration Award at the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards for songwriters in London.Music Business Worldwide
