Jamie Lee Curtis brands Kanye West ‘abhorrent’ and hopes he ‘gets help’ after anti-Semitic tweet

Jamie Lee Curtis became emotional during a live TV interview as she discussed Kanye West’s anti-Semitic Twitter rant that saw his account get suspended from the social media platform at the weekend.

The actress, 63, described the rapper as “abhorrent” as she addressed the controversy while speaking to Hoda Kotb on The Today Show on Monday.

Recalling West’s tweets, she said: “I woke up and I burst out into tears. Death Con 3 on Jewish people? What are you doing?” she said.

“It’s bad enough that fascism is on the rise around the world, but on Twitter, on a portal, as if Jewish people haven’t had it hard enough.

“As if Asian people - I mean Everything, Everywhere All at Once is a movie about an immigrant Asian family, as if Asian people haven’t had enough. I mean it’s just abhorrent. It’s abhorrent.”

‘Death Con’ - or DEFCON levels as West presumably meant - are used throughout the United States Armed Forces to determine the military readiness necessary based on threats to the country.

Appearing on the US talk show to promote her latest movie, Halloween Ends, the daughter of renowned Jewish actor Tony Curtis added that her first thoughts after reading the tweet centered around her grandparents - who were Hungarian Jewish immigrants.

She also said that she now hoped that dad-of-four West - who last year legally changed his name to “Ye” - and his children, “would get help” following the backlash.

“If we aren’t reacting, then who are we?” Curtis rhetorically asked Kotb, before describing the situation as a “big concern” - referring to the lack of outrage at his comments outside of the Jewish community.

In his since-deleted tweets, West, 45, 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.”

That led Curtis to respond: “The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide.”

West’s latest controversy comes after he recently caused an outcry for sporting a White Lives Matter shirt at Paris Fashion Week.

The “White Lives Matter” phrase – an appropriation of the Black Lives Matter slogan used to protest racial injustice, discrimination and police brutality – has been adopted by white-supremacist organisations in recent years, and is categorised by the Anti-Defamation League as a hate slogan.