Ye praised Hitler or Nazis in business meetings even before his recent fallout due to antisemitic remarks, a former employee alleged in a settlement per NBC News

• Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, recently made a slew of antisemitic remarks on social media.
• A fallout ensued between Ye's biggest corporate partnerships, including Gap and Adidas.

A former employee accused Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, of praising Hitler or Nazis on more than one occasion in business meetings, according to a settlement reviewed by NBC News.

The NBC News report follows similar reporting from CNN and alleges Ye made antisemitic remarks long before the rapper's recent antisemitic comments, which led Gap, Adidas, Balenciaga, and other companies to end partnerships with the music mogul.

NBC News did not disclose further details of the settlement to protect the identity of the former employee but reviewed the documents and proof of payment from Ye.

The settlement showed how the former employee alleged that Ye praised Hitler or Nazis on several occasions in business meetings, according to NBC News. Ye denied the claims in the settlement, per the report.

A representative for Ye did not respond to a request for comment.

NBC News spoke with six people who either worked for Ye, worked with him, or witnessed an incident at TMZ, alleging that the rapper made antisemitic comments dating back to at least 2018, and one person alleged as far back as 7 years ago.

Ryder Ripps, who identifies himself as a conceptual artist on his website and who told NBC News that he collaborated with West sporadically between 2014 and 2018, recalled to NBC News how the rapper shared conspiracy theories about Jewish people and complimented Nazis.

"He had told me a bunch of shit about like, how, 'Nazis are good at propaganda,'" Ripps, who is Jewish, told the outlet. In addition, Ripps said the rapper also made curious claims several times about Jewish people having "codes."

"He said stuff like 'Jews have the codes' a lot," Ripps told the publication.

Ripps said that he pushed back on Ye's comments at the time but believed they weren't "that dangerous" until the rapper recently doubled down on conspiracy theories about Jewish people and his antisemitic comments.

"With this pattern that's happening and with the doubling and tripling down of all this, it's pretty obvious that this is some kind of disgusting, hate-filled, strange Nazi obsession," Ripps said.

One former employee who worked with Ye for three years told NBC News that the rapper brought up Hitler multiple times, in some cases praising him. The employee spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity due to multiple nondisclosure agreements they signed while working for the artist.

During a 2018 meeting, the former employee alleged that Ye said Hitler "had some good qualities" and "wasn't all bad."

In another instance, the employee felt that Ye praised the dictator just to gauge the reaction in the room: "He would say 'I even love Hitler' and then he would like pause for reactions."

An unnamed business executive who used to work for Ye told CNN last week that Ye "would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he was able to accumulate so much power and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi Party achieved for the German people."

The rapper has been mired in recent controversy for wearing a "White Lives Matter" shirt, claiming George Floyd died of a drug overdose, and making several antisemitic comments on social media and in interviews. Ye has since apologized for his comments on Floyd, and appeared to apologize for his antisemitic comments in an interview with Piers Morgan — but then doubled down on those statements.