In a disturbing scene that has provoked global outrage, a Miami Beach nightclub played an explicitly antisemitic Kanye West track called “Heil Hitler" at the request of a group of far-right social media influencers. Videos from the Vendôme club event last week show the crowd - which included notorious extremists like Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes- gleefully singing along and even doing Nazi salutes as the lyrics blared “Nigga, Heil Hitler!"
The spectacle of young men chanting a Nazi slogan under neon nightclub lights in 2026 shocked many in the community and around the world. Local Jewish organizations condemned the incident, saying “Playing an explicitly antisemitic song in a commercial venue crosses a clear line… It normalizes hate and gives legitimacy to extremist rhetoric."
A Nightlife Event for Notorious Antisemites
The “Heil Hitler" episode unfolded on Thursday nightat Vendôme, an upscale South Beach club known for its Parisian-themed décor. According to eyewitness videos, a entourage of controversial online personalities arrived at the club in a limousine while blasting the virulently antisemitic Kanye West song on the way. Inside the venue, multiple influencers were recorded laughing, smoking, and shamelessly Sieg-Heiling to the music.
Among those present were Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan Tate, Nick Fuentes, Sneako, Clavicular, Myron Gaines, and others - figures infamous for misogyny, racism, and antisemitism both online and off. One clip shows Myron Gaines, a self-styled “men’s rights" podcaster, repeatedly raising his arm in a Nazi salute as the song plays.
To understand the significance of this gathering, consider the attendees’ backgrounds:
• Nick Fuentes - a 27-year-old white nationalist and Holocaust denier who leads the extreme-right “America First" movement . He was banned from major social media for hate speech and is known for openly praising Hitler and inciting hatred of Jews.
• Andrew Tate - a British-American influencer and self-proclaimed misogynist who built a following on hate-filled rants. He has referred to Judaism as a “slave religion" in past tirades and is currently facing charges of human trafficking in Romania .
• Sneako - a 27-year-old streamer with a long history of antisemitic remarks, including casual jokes about Hitler and posts targeting Jewish people. He was banned from YouTube for promoting hate and conspiracy theories.
• Clavicular - a young TikTok live-streamer tied to the toxic “manosphere." He rose to fame promoting extremist body-image practices.
• Myron Gaines - co-host of the “Fresh & Fit" podcast, known for anti-women propaganda. Video from the club now shows Gaines enthusiastically joining in Nazi salutes alongside the others .
That night at Vendôme, these individuals treated Hitler’s ideology like party entertainment. “The disgusting footage shows these hate-peddling influencers dancing and singing along to Ye’s ‘Heil Hitler’ track like it’s their personal theme song," one media outlet observed. In one viral clip, Tate, Fuentes and their cohort can be seen chanting the lyric “They don’t understand the things I say on Twitter, n*a Heil Hitler" while making Nazi salutes . The video has racked up millions of views online, underscoring how quickly such Nazi propaganda can spread via social media.
Kanye West’s Antisemitic Anthem
The song “Heil Hitler" by Kanye West (who now goes by Ye) is itself a shocking product of rising antisemitism in pop culture. West released the track in May 2025 as part of an upcoming album - timing its debut on the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II . The original title of the song was literally “Heil Hitler," and it even samples actual Hitler speeches in the background. In the song’s hook, West and a chorus repeatedly chant: “All my n**** Nazis… heil Hitler," mixing a racial slur with Nazi glorification. '
The content was so extreme that major streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Amazon quickly banned the track for promoting Nazi ideology. Several countries also took action - Germany outlawed the song’s distribution under laws against extremist hate speech, and Australia went so far as to revoke West’s travel visa due to the song’s content. Brazil reportedly even threatened to arrest Kanye West if he performed the song or voiced Nazi praise at a scheduled show (which was ultimately canceled).
West’s descent into overt antisemitism had begun the year prior. In late 2022, the Grammy-winning rapper infamously declared on social media that he planned to go “death con 3" on Jewish people (a garbled reference to the U.S. DEFCON military alert system). He went on to unleash a barrage of antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories in interviews - praising Adolf Hitler during a bizarre appearance on Alex Jones’s Infowars show, where West, clad in a black mask, remarked that “we’ve got to stop dissing the Nazis".
Those statements cost West dearly, losing him billion-dollar fashion partnerships and public credibility. Yet in 2025 he doubled down with the “Heil Hitler" song - effectively an anthem of Jew-hatred- which has since been circulated in the darkest corners of the internet. Now, that noxious music has spilled out into a public venue in Miami Beach, buoyed by a clique of extremist influencers treating West’s hateful anthem as “part of Miami’s nightlife culture".
Unsurprisingly, news of the Vendôme nightclub incident sparked swift condemnation. On Sunday, local and national Jewish groups blasted the club for allowing neo-Nazi glorification on its premises. “Playing an explicitly antisemitic song in a commercial venue crosses a clear line," one community organization said in a statement. “It normalizes hate and gives legitimacy to extremist rhetoric."
Miami Beach residents, civic leaders, and Holocaust survivors alike have expressed horror that such an event could take place in their city. South Florida is home to one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors in the United States, and many noted the bitter irony of hearing “Heil Hitler!" celebrated just miles from retirement communities filled with those who escaped or defeated Hitler’s regime eight decades ago.
On social media, however, supporters of the influencers tried to downplay the episode - calling it “just a joke" or an edgy form of entertainment. Some fans even praised the nightclub for indulging the request, framing it as a rebellious moment in Miami’s party scene . That reaction only fueled the outrage further. To many, it proved the point that extremist online culture has begun seeping into real-life spaces, normalizing hate speech under the guise of “humor" or shock value.
As one observer lamented, “We are living in a world gone mad when self-proclaimed Nazis treat a genocidal slogan as a dance-floor anthem. This is beyond normalization - it’s celebration of evil." The episode comes amid a nationwide surge in antisemitism and extremism, where incidents of anti-Jewish hate rose dramatically over the past year .
Vendôme Miami Beach markets itself as “the crown jewel of Miami’s nightlife," an exclusive venue known for celebrity guests and glamorous events. The club’s ownership, notably, consists of four entrepreneurs who originally hail from France - a country that in recent years has grappled with its own wave of violent antisemitism. Jonathan Mansour, Adel Bourkia, Byram Zaied, and Fallou Bathily, the founding partners of Vendôme, are all French-born and of Middle Eastern/North African heritage.
In France, open displays of Nazi glorification are illegal and widely stigmatized, given that nation’s painful Holocaust history. Yet in the freedom of the American context, the club became a platform for a pro-Hitler showcase. Critics fear that the same insidious Jew-hatred which has troubled France - where Jewish schools and synagogues require armed guards, and thousands of French Jews have emigrated to Israel to escape rising antisemitism - is now finding a new foothold in Florida.
As of this writing, Vendôme’s owners have not publicly commented on the incident. No apology or condemnation has been issued for allowing an event that turned into a “Heil Hitler" salute. This silence has drawn sharp criticism. “Their nightclub literally hosted a Nazi party. Do they think they can just say nothing and wait for it to blow over?" asked one community member at a Miami Beach council meeting.
The concern is that lack of accountability will send a signal that Miami’s lucrative nightlife establishments can become safe havens for antisemites. Some activists are even calling for the club’s liquor license to be reviewed or revoked by authorities, noting that one of the participants, the streamer known as Clavicular, is reportedly only 20 years old - under the legal drinking age, which could constitute a violation.
The Night I was Threatened with Murder in Miami Beach at the Fontainebleau
The Vendôme nightclub saga is, sadly, not an isolated incident in Miami Beach - a city that prides itself on tolerance and diversity, but which has seen a worrying uptick in antisemitism. I experienced it firsthand. On the night of December 1, 2024, in the lobby of the famed Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, I was the target of an antisemitic attack so brazen it made international headlines.
As I sat quietly in the lobby wearing a kippah and working on my laptop, a man - later identified as Faiz Akbar - approached and began to viciously attack me with horrendous anti-Jewish slurs. He called me a “baby killer", cursed Israel and the IDF, and threatened to murder me in grotesque terms . This was not a mere verbal insult; it was a direct threat on my life, expressed in front of other hotel guests.
The security staff did nothing. The next day I filed a report with Miami Beach Police, and I also alerted the FBI’s hate crimes unit given the seriousness of the threat. The Anti-Defamation League weighed in, publicly condemning the attack as an antisemitic hate crime in the strongest possible terms. To be a Jewish guest ostensibly under the protection of a luxury hotel, yet find oneself utterly unprotected from a violent antisemite, was a nightmare - one I detailed in a Jerusalem Post column at the time titled “Antisemitic Nightmare at the Fontainebleau."
The ADL condemned the Fontainebleau incident publicly as a despicable hate crime, and it garnered national media attention.
The hotel sued me for defamation.
Miami Beach at a Crossroads
These incidents are symptoms of a deeper illness spreading through society: a newfound brazenness among antisemites who feel empowered to act on their hate. In recent months, Florida has seen neo-Nazi demonstrators rallying in public spaces - from men waving swastika flags outside Disney World, to groups chanting “Jews will not replace us" in Orlando - behavior that not long ago was unthinkable in the Sunshine State.
Officials like Governor Ron DeSantis, who rightly tout their pro-Israel credentials, have sometimes seemed reluctant to confront these neo-Nazis head-on, creating a perception of tolerance for the intolerable (critics note that DeSantis initially stayed silent when Nazis demonstrated in Florida, only belatedly condemning them under pressure). I know DeSantis personally and greatly respect him. But he’s got to come out much stronger against the surge of antisemitism, and to date he has remained silent on the attack against me at the Fontainebleau. The result is an atmosphere in which hate groups feel at home.
Miami Beach in particular stands at a dangerous crossroads. This city has a large Jewish population and a storied Jewish history - it was one of the first American resort towns to break the old “no Jews allowed" hotel policies in the 1950s. The Fontainebleau itself was built by a Jewish entrepreneur, Ben Novack, as a place where Jewish guests and celebrities could finally vacation in style. It is tragically ironic that today Miami Beach is making headlines for harboring antisemites and Nazi sympathizers. We are witnessing nothing less than a moral battle for the soul of the city. Will Miami Beach remain a cosmopolitan, inclusive haven, or will it degrade into what one community leader bluntly described as “an antisemitic sewer"?
City authorities cannot afford to shrug this off. Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner, who is an Orthodox Jew, has done nothing nothing about the Fontainebleau attack. Now, community members are asking: Where is Mayor Meiner’s voice regarding the Vendôme nightclub incident? Will the Mayor and City Commission take action against an establishment that allowed patrons to Sieg Heil and revel in a “Heil Hitler" sing-along?
At minimum, an investigation should be launched into how this happened and what can be done to prevent anything similar. The city should also facilitate dialogue with club owners, making clear that Miami Beach will not be a playground for Jew-haters.
Never Again Means Now
The confluence of these events - my personal ordeal at the Fontainebleau and the Nazi-themed celebration at Vendôme - is a stark warning. Antisemitism left unchecked will proliferate. History has shown that what begins with anti-Jewish rhetoric and symbolic salutes can end in violence. We are less than 80 years removed from the Holocaust, and yet here we are, with young influencers openly idolizing Hitler and crowds finding amusement in genocidal anthems. This cannot be written off as mere trolling or youthful provocation.
There is a real-world pipeline from hateful words to hateful deeds. I felt that viscerally when a man threatened to murder me for being a Jew. Jewish students in Florida have felt it when swastikas were plastered on their campus or when they were harassed for wearing Star of David necklaces. And now the world saw it in a South Beach club where the successors of Goebbels and Goering dance without shame.
It is incumbent on all people of conscience - not only Jews - to speak out and act. Miami Beach’s leaders should work closely with organizations like the ADL and law enforcement to ensure zero tolerance for antisemitic incidents. The state of Florida recently strengthened its laws against antisemitic harassment, classifying the defacement of Jewish property and intimidation of Jews as hate crimes. Those laws must be enforced, and creative legal avenues explored to hold venues accountable if they platform hate speech that threatens public safety.
If a line is not drawn here and now, the extremists will only be emboldened. Today they are laughing and saluting Hitler in a nightclub; tomorrow they may try to march down Ocean Drive with swastika banners.
Some might say, “This is just fringe antics - don’t give them attention." But ignoring cancer doesn’t cure it. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and it’s crucial to expose what happened in Miami Beach so that it can be forcefully repudiated. The outrage and horror expressed by decent people everywhere is not “giving attention" to antisemites - it is delivering them a message that they are beyond the pale of civilized society. Miami Beach must deliver that message, unequivocally. Private citizens can play a role too: boycott establishments that enable hate, support victims who speak out, and educate the young about the very real dangers of antisemitism. The Jewish concept of “Pikuach Nefesh" teaches that saving even one life is like saving an entire world. By pushing back against this rising tide of Jew-hatred, we are safeguarding not only Jewish lives but the soul of our community.
In the 1940s, Miami Beach was actually one of the places where U.S. Army Air Corps soldiers - including many Jewish GIs - trained to fight the Nazis. Those veterans would be aghast to see American youths today Sieg Heiling in the same city. We owe it to them, and to the memory of the six million, to stand up now. Miami Beach cannot become a new haven for Nazi chic or a hotbed of harassment against Jews. Not on our watch.
“Never Again" means never, ever again - and that requires us to act in the present. The time to act is now, before it’s too late to turn the tide. The eyes of the world, including Jerusalem, are on Miami Beach. Let us ensure the next headlines out of this city are about how we defeated the hate in our midst, rather than surrendered to it.
Update: While I was penning this column, the Vendome did indeed issue a statement of condemnation. Here is the irony no one expected-and no one should ignore.
Vendôme Miami Beach, the very nightclub where Kanye West’s “Heil Hitler" track was played, ultimately took responsibility.
Vendôme issued a statement condemning antisemitism and distancing itself from the event. It acknowledged failure. It recognized harm. It made clear that Nazi glorification has no place in Miami Beach nightlife.
That response matters-not because it erases what happened, but because it demonstrates something painfully rare in this saga: moral accountability.
After I was threatened with murder for being a Jew in the Fontainebleau lobby-while wearing a kippah, sitting quietly, harming no one-the hotel did not condemn antisemitism.
What happened at the Fontainebleau was one-sided antisemitic intimidation, captured on surveillance video, condemned by Jewish organizations, and reported internationally.
Within months, we watched neo-Nazis and antisemites openly chant “Heil Hitler" in a South Beach nightclub-while city leaders remained largely silent.
This is not coincidence.
This is consequence.
Miami Beach now stands where many cities have stood before it-often too late.
Will it be a place where antisemitism is confronted early, honestly, and forcefully?
Or will it become a city where Jew-hatred is minimized, euphemized, litigated away, and ultimately normalized?
Antisemitism does not begin with gas chambers. It begins with denial.
The answer will not be found in PR statements or legal briefs. It will be found in whether Miami Beach leaders understand this basic truth:
When hate is denied, it grows.
Miami Beach still has time to choose differently.
But the clock is ticking.
Miami Beach’s Moment of Moral Reckoning
History teaches us a brutal lesson: antisemitism never announces itself as genocide. It arrives disguised as “misunderstanding." As “both sides." As legal paperwork. As silence.
In Europe, Jews were first told they were overreacting.
Then they were told to be quieter.
Then they were told they were the problem.
Miami Beach is not 1930s Europe-but the pattern is hauntingly familiar.
A Jew is threatened with murder in a luxury hotel lobby. City leaders hesitate. Weeks later, “Heil Hitler" is chanted openly in a nightclub.
This is how hatred advances-not in leaps, but in permissions.
“Antisemitism does not explode. It seeps-until suddenly it’s everywhere."
The choice before Miami Beach is simple, and urgent.
Either this city draws a bright red line now-against Jew-hatred, against denial, against intimidation-or it will become another cautionary tale of a place that knew what was happening and chose comfort over courage.
I did not speak out because it was easy. I spoke out because silence is how evil wins.
If Miami Beach wants to remain a city of tolerance, decency, and safety for Jews, it must act-not tomorrow, not after another incident, but now.
Because history is watching. And so are we.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach-“America’s Rabbi"-is the international bestselling author of 36 books and is described by The Washington Post and Newsweek as “the most famous rabbi in America," by The New York Observer as “the most famous orthodox Jew in the world," and by The Jerusalem Post as one of the 50 most influential Jews alive. Founder of the Oxford University L’Chaim Society, the second-largest student organization in Oxford’s history, he mentored many of today’s world leaders who were his students. He is the only rabbi ever to win the London Times “Preacher of the Year" competition and is the recipient of the American Jewish Press Association’s highest award for excellence in commentary. He is founder of The World Values Network, which champions Jewish values and fights antisemitism worldwide. Follow him on Instagram and “X" @RabbiShmuley.