Berklee College of Music Fires Prof Who Allegedly Made Antisemitic Statements
“claimed that Berklee had hired him in full knowledge of his past remarks about Jews”
We mentioned this professor in a previous quick take. Berklee has now fired him.
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Berklee College of Music Fires Professor Who Called Jews ‘Vile Predators’
Berklee College of Music has fired a top professor following a Washington Free Beacon probe into his anti-Semitic comments.
Nicholas Payton, who has called Jews “vile predators” and falsely blamed them for slavery, revealed in an Instagram post Saturday that he was out as chair of the school’s brass department.
“[O]n a zoom meeting this wednesday at 1:00pm CST, i was told by two berklee officials that i had 24 hours to resign or be terminated,” Payton wrote in the post. “[I] think the real issue is people miscategorizing me as an ‘antisemite.'”
“[L]et me remind those who find me problematic: I AM THE VICTIM. [I] was dismissed without due process, without a warning, or a chance to make it right,” the aggrieved musician continued. “[I] loved that job and was finally getting the hang of it, even though i’ve never had a ‘regular’ job in my life.”
The musician additionally claimed that Berklee had hired him in full knowledge of his past remarks about Jews—and had indicated their personal agreement with him.
“[I] was promoted to chair of the department in the fall of 2024. [W]as handpicked by a dean who knew full well about these so-called antisemitic statements and told me that not only he agreed, but so did the provost, the vice president and HR also agree.”
Payton specifically called out the Free Beacon for precipitating his exit, writing that his statements “regarding the actions of some in the jewish community” were “completely miscontextualize[d].” He added in a now-deleted post that “calling black people ‘antisemite’ is the new ‘N****r.'” As of Monday, his name is no longer listed on the school’s brass department faculty page.
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What a piece of work. Speaks very poorly of Berklee that they even considered him let alone hire him.
Berklee still needs to be investigated. Dropping this guy just smells of an attempt to cut their losses.
Seems to have plenty of brass.
Nicholas Payton’s comments are considered antisemitic because they invoke classic antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories about Jewish people. For example, he has referred to Jews as “vile predators” and falsely blamed them for the transatlantic slave trade—an accusation that has been thoroughly debunked by historians and widely recognized as a harmful antisemitic myth. He has also repeated claims about Jewish control of media and the exploitation of Black artists, echoing long-standing antisemitic narratives that portray Jews as manipulative and powerful behind the scenes. These statements go beyond criticism of individuals or institutions and instead target Jews as a group, which is a defining feature of antisemitism.
I bet he’s 100% telling the truth about the administration and hiring faculty having zero issues with his disgusting viewpoints about Jews. They just got caught so now he’s a liability. This reminds me of the Rev Wright , Obama’s pastor who was just being honest while Obama was being the liar. When people openly share their hate in a public forum it’s because they believe they are safe to do so and are correct in their beliefs. This dude is just the tip of the iceberg for Berklee.
“handpicked by a dean who knew full well about these so-called antisemitic statements and told me that not only he agreed, but so did the provost, the vice president and HR also agree.”
It’s so exciting to watch Left Wing Sumo matches — where both participants struggle to throw each other under the bus. This guy’s simultaneously taking on the whole cheering section. That takes some brass. Too bad he doesn’t have any anymore.
completely believable:
The musician additionally claimed that Berklee had hired him in full knowledge of his past remarks about Jews—and had indicated their personal agreement with him.
how did/do the j ews exploit black people?
I can see the argument that blacks oppress allll the others that they show their violence to
and pull down with their low academic wins etc etc
there are couple of arguments blacks make.
-Jews funded the slave trade or owned the ships. Some Jews probably were involved somewhere at some point just as they were involved in most things requiring financing but
it was a small number and you could just as easily replaced jew with any other group
– jews owned business in black neighborhoods such as harlem and profited. of course Jews probably lived in those neighborhoods first and then blacks moved in.
– jews may well be disprorporti0nedly wealthy compared to other groups and made their money on the backs of black labor. in a word bullshit. not jews fault that blacks view themselves as perpetual victims.
– jews owned slaves. some mostly likely did but then again blacks owned slaves too.
he did not say that Jews exploited Black people
He said that Jews were responsible for the slave trade.
This is a common antisemitic trope that Jewish bankers financed the triangle trade
who else had the money? Who else was allowed to make loans? sorry – financing something is a no go if no one is interested in the business. And if there is a profit to be made, anyone with money is willing to finance.
Well some jews were moneylenders because that was the only profession they were allowed to be in Europe.
Church had money.
Some nobility had money.
there was a growing merchant class with money
banks existed as did trading companies
all you needed to be able to do i imagine was finance a ship of sufficient size or a voyage on such a ship.
Who else had the money? Please tell me you are not serious.
Jody google financing slave trade and start from there
Of course there’s nothing wrong with having lent money for a legitimate business venture, which was what the triangle trade was at the time.
But the majority of bankers, both in Europe and America, were not Jews. Who had money to invest was mostly not Jews. Even the money that Jewish and other bankers managed was mostly not theirs.
Everyone was allowed to make loans. There were very few restrictions on lending, and they applied equally to everyone. The era when Catholic law voluntarily turned moneylending in Europe into a Jewish niche was long over by then.
So this is a “friction fire” caused by the donor revocation letters rubbing up against the bond payment late notices?
Note that Berklee says he’s lying.