A North Carolina high school valedictorian’s speech caused controversy after it appeared to contain a reference to the controversial rapper Ye – before school officials cut off a student who tried to blast his remarks.
Hoggard High School senior Kyler Hosek left some students wide-eyed after he appeared to replicate a comment Ye made during a December 2022 interview with Infowars founder Alex Jones, WWAY reported.
“As my biggest inspiration once said, every human being has something of value that they bring to the table,” Hosek told students Saturday.
Not all students reacted to Hosek’s commencement speech – but it didn’t escape the attention of fellow student Sara Rudeseal, who cited the Infowars interview where Ye glorified Hitler.
“Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler,” Ye told Jones in 2022.
“What Kyler forgot to do to finish the quote,” Rudeseal pointed out to her fellow seniors after grabbing a mic.
She then repeated the phrase before being followed off the stage by the principal.
Rudeseal said she wasn’t handed her diploma on stage before later receiving it away from the cameras.
She was appalled that officials didn’t intervene when Hosek made the comment.
It “doesn’t feel right to just let go by like that,” she told the outlet.
The school’s policy allows officials to cut off unapproved speeches, and despite the backlash, Hosek’s family stressed the valedictorian’s address had been given the green light.
Hosek’s address contained references to artificial intelligence and his family described it as a “positive outlook on the future of AI.”
“I want you all to leave today with a dream, a drive, and a belief in your potential success, because as my biggest inspiration once said, ‘Every human being has something of value that they bring to the table.’
Thank you and congratulations class of 2026,” he told students as he rounded off his address.
Ye’s glorification of the Nazi dictator sparked widespread outrage. Rabbi Marvin Hier told CBS at the time, “It’s the most frightening thing that this is happening in the greatest country on the planet.
“What we have to do is condemn it. We have to make sure these three people are isolated and pay a price for stating that.”
Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia officials said Ye’s comments were “not just vile and offensive: they could put Jews in danger.”