Kanye wanted to call his 2018 hit album Ye – HITLER

Kanye West has long admired Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and once wanted to name an album after him, insiders say.

Sources close to the now disgraced rapper told CNN how West was “obsessed” with Hitler and even wanted to name his 2018 hit album after the fascist leader — before eventually releasing it under the name “Ye.” It’s not clear why he changed his mind.

“He would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he could amass so much power, and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi party had achieved for the German people,” said a former businessman.

The unnamed source claimed that people in West’s inner circle were “fully aware” of his interest in Hitler, as he spoke openly about reading Mein Kampf, Hitler’s 1925 manifesto, and expressed his “admiration” for the Nazis for their propaganda.

The Nazis, led by Hitler, murdered 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.

As a result, the businessman said, West created a hostile work environment, which eventually caused him to quit.

He is said to have settled with Ye and some of his companies over workplace complaints, including harassment, and asked not to be named due to a confidentiality agreement and fear of retaliation.

As part of the deal, CNN reports, West denied the charges against him.

The rapper now sees his multi-billion dollar empire crumbling around him after he tweeted that he was going “death con three on the Jewish people” and claimed that Jews are conspiring against him in the media.

Others have previously stepped forward to accuse the Gold Digger singer of being anti-Semitic, with a former TMZ employee claiming in a podcast earlier this month that West made similar comments that the outlet declined to publish in 2018.

In his Higher Learning podcast, Van Lathan Jr said he confronted West about his comments that slavery “sounds like a choice,” West spoke of his love for Nazis.

“I’ve heard him say things like that on TMZ,” Lathan Jr said. “I mean, I was stunned because that kind of anti-Semitic talk is disgusting. It’s like, I get taken back when someone does, right?

‘But as far as’ [West]I knew that stuff was in him because when he came to TMZ he said that stuff and they took it out of the interview,” Lathan Jr revealed.

“He said something like, ‘I like Hitler, I like Nazis,’ something along those lines when he was there,” the former TMZ contributor said.

“And they took it out of the interview for whatever reason,” he claimed, adding: “It wasn’t my decision.”

He then went on to say that he was actually bringing up the Holocaust while refuting Ye’s comments about slavery.

“If you look at what I said on TMZ, I’m like, ‘Hey Kanye, there are real-life, real-world implications to everything you just said there.”

“What I say next – if I can remember, it’s been a long time – was ’12 million people really died because of Nazism and Hitler and all that sort of thing’, and then I go on to talk about what he said about slavery. ‘

In the video from his tirade then you could hear West say, ‘We are controlled by the media, and today it all changes.’

He then asks TMZ employees if they “felt anything I said today,” to which Van Lathan Jr replies, “I don’t actually think you’re thinking anything.

“I think what you’re doing now is the absence of thought, and the reason I feel this way, because Kanye – you have a right to your opinion, you have a right to believe what you want – but there is a fact and real-life, real-world consequences behind everything you just said.

“And while you’re making music and being an artist and living the life you earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society are dealing with these threats to our lives.

“We are dealing with the marginalization that comes with 400 years of slavery that you said was a choice for our people.”

Van Lathan continued, “Frankly, I’m disappointed, I’m shocked, and honestly, brother, I’m incredibly hurt by the fact that you’ve turned into something that isn’t real to me.”

The revelations come as Ye’s billion-dollar empire collapses around him in the wake of his tweet declaring war on the Jewish people.

TJ Maxx was the last company to stop doing business with the rapper on Thursday, after he was previously dropped by talent agency CAA and fashion label Balenciaga.

Adidas also announced earlier this week that they would be ending their partnership with the rapper after receiving a lot of criticism online for his support.

Shoe retailer Foot Locker also announced yesterday that it is ‘not’ support future product drops from Yeezy, and we’ve instructed our retailers to remove every existing product from our shelves and digital sites.”

Universal Music’s Def Jam label, which copyrighted West’s recordings from 2002 to 2016 and continued to distribute his releases until last year, also issued a statement condemning Ye’s comments.

“There is no place for anti-Semitism in our society,” the record label said. But it has not yet asked to remove Ye’s recordings, many of which are critically acclaimed works.

Meanwhile, production studio MRC announced on Monday that they would leave a documentary they made about the 45-year-old rapper on the shelf.

MRC studio executives Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu and Scott Tenley announced in a memo Monday: “We cannot support content that bolsters its platform.

And even Christie’s auction house, which handled the private sale of a rare Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototype worn by West at the 2008 Grammys, is no longer going on sale.

The termination of the Adidas deal has now knocked Ye out of the ranks of billionaires, according to wealth tracker Forbes.

He’s now worth just $400 million, which Forbes says comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog and a 5 percent stake in Skims, the shapewear firm of ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

But while companies around the world are breaking deals with Ye, music streaming service Spotify said it wouldn’t remove the rapper’s music unless his label asked for it.

The rapper’s recent anti-Semitic comments are “just awful comments” and would have justified removal from Spotify for violating its policies if they had been on a podcast or recording, Spotify chief Daniel Ek said.

However, music by the artist now known as Ye does not violate the anti-hate policy and any anti-Semitic comments he has made cannot be found on the music streaming platform.

“It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policies,” Ek said, adding: “It’s up to his label whether they want to take action or not.”

Questions about whether Spotify would make it to Ye’s music came after Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel called for major streaming services to end their business relationships with West.

But Spotify has faced backlash in the past when it punished musicians for their personal misconduct.

The streaming service removed R Kelly’s music from its playlists and endorsements in 2018 following allegations of sexual misconduct, only to later reverse the policy after other artists threatened boycotts.

Instead, the streaming platform is now giving users a mute button to block certain artists they may not agree with.

When Ye’s label asks for the rapper’s catalog to be removed, Ek said, “Of course we will respect their wishes.”