Berklee fires anti-Semitic professor after resurfaced claims about oppression by Jews
The Berklee College of Music recently fired an anti-Semitic professor, Nicholas Payton, following news coverage about statements he made that were critical of Jewish people.
In a statement to The Washington Free Beacon, Berklee said that Payton’s contract had been terminated and that it would not comment on 'personnel matters.'
The Berklee College of Music in Boston recently fired an anti-Semitic professor, Nicholas Payton, following news coverage about statements he made that were critical of Jewish people.
Payton posted to Instagram on Saturday that, during a Zoom meeting on April 23, he was “told by two berklee [sic] officials that i [sic] had 24 hours to resign or be terminated.” Payton explained that he was officially terminated for reposting a slide showing “support against defamatory statements made by one individual,” but that he did not believe that was the “real reason.”
Later, on Monday, Payton again posted to Instagram about his job at Berklee, saying that he had been “handpicked by a dean” to lead the school’s brass department. Payton acknowledged that the dean “knew full well about these so-called antisemitic statements” and told Payton “not only he agreed, but so did the provost, the vice president and HR also agree.”
“[S]ome students tried to get me fired for the same statements in 2022, and i [sic] was found not to be antisemitic,” Payton concluded. “[T]here is nothing antisemitic about what i [sic] said.”
In a statement to The Washington Free Beacon, Berklee said that Payton’s contract had been terminated and that it would not comment on “personnel matters.” The school denied the “assertions and characterizations” that Payton made “with respect to Berklee,” calling them “factually inaccurate.”
Campus Reform reported earlier this month about Payton’s controversial statements about Jewish people, including his allegations that Jews had “oppressed” and “exploited” black people.
“All these so-called Jews mad, because how dare I make them face the facts of their sordid past and present of them oppressing black people,” Payton said in a video that he posted online in 2020.
“So you want to help liberate black people? You want to help free us? Then free us from amongst yourselves,” Payton continued. “And don’t be mad ‘cause I shared Torah-carrying Jews. Expose how Jewish people have exploited us. Apologize for it and atone and do better.”
“Amazing how Jews always have a ‘negligible’ role in every historic horror that they’ve been irrefutably associated with it,” Payton posted in 2020. “What an amazing coincidence! ALL the other races contain plenty of monstrous psychopaths, but Jews, magically, are clean as a whistle! INCREDIBLE!”
Payton also argued that Jewish people’s “history in the music business” has “often been oppressive.”
Campus Reform has contacted the Berklee College of Music and the school’s brass department for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
