A North Carolina high school valedictorian says he has been left feeling “distressed” after backlash erupted over a line in his graduation speech that appeared to echo a remark made by Ye.
Kyler Hosek, a student at Hoggard High School, was called out publicly during Saturday’s commencement ceremony by senior Sara Rudeseal after he used wording similar to a statement Ye made during a 2022 interview with Infowars founder Alex Jones, a conversation in which the rapper praised Adolf Hitler.
Speaking to WECT on Tuesday, Hosek said he was upset that the controversy surrounding the quote had overshadowed the message he had hoped to deliver.
“I’m distressed that a quote used in my speech distracted from the message I intended to share,” Hosek said, while also firmly denouncing antisemitism. “Those beliefs do not reflect my values.”
In his address, Hosek focused on how graduates can find success in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. But the closing portion of his speech quickly became the center of attention.
“As my biggest inspiration once said, ‘Every human being has something of value that they bring to the table,’” he told the graduating class.
It seemed to mirror what Ye told Jones, “Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”
Not all students reacted to Hosek’s comments, but Rudeseal spotted the striking similarity and made her feelings clear as she grabbed a microphone and walked on stage.
“What Kyler forgot to do to finish the quote,” the enraged student raged later in the ceremony.
She then repeated the phrase before the school’s principal escorted her off the stage.
Rudeseal said she wasn’t handed her diploma on stage, only receiving it later, away from the cameras.
The furious student said she was offended that the phrase was part of Hosek’s address – blasting school officials.
“To give the valedictorian a speech like that and give him a place to say those things and nobody act like they’re gonna do anything about it or stop it, especially through a public school where it should be run through all sorts of things to make sure that it’s okay to say, doesn’t feel right to just let go by like that,” she raged.
“The fact that he said the entire quote and just omitted the last two words, which were praising a crazy totalitarian, was really wrong,” Rudeseal told WECT, continuing to blast the student.
“The quote was praising Hitler and that the school board needs to be better about vetting their speeches,” she alleged.
Despite Rudeseal’s fury, school officials said they reviewed Hosek’s remarks before he delivered them.
“As part of our established process, the speech underwent the district’s standard review procedures, including a review of the speech in its entirety,” Dr Christopher Barnes, the school’s superintendent, said.
“While the district did not identify any connection during the review process, we understand that some members of our community perceived the language differently.”
School officials said they condemn “any messages of hate, discrimination, antisemitism, or other harmful ideologies associated with any individual or public figure.”
