How a luxury handbag mogul used the Kanye West controversy as fuel to fight antisemitism

A luxury handbag mogul whose clientele includes A-listers for illustration Kris Jenner, Paris Hilton and Lil Baby was inspired to conflict antisemitism aft he sold a one-of-a-kind Birkin container to Kanye West for $275,000 conscionable months earlier nan rapper and grounds shaper went connected a nationalist antisemitic tirade.

Jeffrey Berk, CEO of nan luxury handbag resale marketplace Privé Porter, utilized nan money he made from that waste to money his caller organization, Truth Tells. That group is aimed astatine holding politicians accountable erstwhile they make antisemitic remarks aliases are anti-Israel.

"There are immoderate politicians who are promoting a socialist ideology that is an overt threat to our state and nan American Dream itself," Berk says. "And those who dislike American greatness unfailingly besides dislike Jews.

"Yet moreover Jewish congresspeople don’t guidelines up to their hate-filled colleagues. They are really — secretly — elevating these antisemites to activity positions. That incensed maine truthful much, I decided to put my money wherever my outrage is."

Jeffrey Berk, laminitis and CEO of Truth Tells and co-founder of Privé Porter. (Jeffery Berk )

YE, AKA KANYE WEST, DOUBLES DOWN AFTER FALLOUT FROM ANTISEMITIC COMMENTS

Berk, a Jewish American surviving successful Palm Beach County, built Privé Porter pinch his woman Michelle complete nan past decade, and they opened their first ceramic and mortar shop successful Miami successful 2020.

In an question and reply pinch Fox News Digital, Berk described Kris Jenner, celebrated "momager" of nan Kardashian and Jenner brands, arsenic personification who raised his company’s floor plan by epic proportions.

"We had a pop-up shop successful Aspen successful nan summertime of 2015. And conscionable by dumb luck, Kris Jenner came into nan shop a fewer times, and we deed it off. She bought 2 bags, concocted a full bunch of societal media stories. She posted america nan adjacent day. And we went from a bully $500,000-a-month business to a 1 and a half million-dollar business." Berk said.

As nan business grew into an world success, Berk says nan thought for Truth Tells was calved while he started to play a passive and silent domiciled successful immoderate governmental causes and moreover mulled a bid for Congress successful early 2022.

Kanye West attends nan Givenchy Womenswear show arsenic portion of Paris Fashion Week successful October 2022 amid antisemitism controversy. (Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Through that process, he said, he "found a batch of hypocrisy and laziness from our Jewish leaders that they're not trying to push backmost connected nan maturation of much socialist, antisemitic, anti-Israel congressmen," he said, pointing to nan Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).

"The fulcrum of our communicative is, like, really could location beryllium a progressive caucus of 100 congressmen, and really does Rashida Tlaib get elected to beryllium vice chair? How does Omar get elected by these group to beryllium 3rd successful command, arsenic nan deputy, arsenic nan whip?

But it wasn’t until Kanye West, who now goes by "Ye" and is simply a erstwhile Privé Porter customer, spewed things for illustration "going decease con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE" successful a tweet past fall, and dozens of different antisemitic comments, that Berk realized Truth Tells needed to velocity up its work.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., listens arsenic acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan testifies earlier nan House Oversight and Reform Committee July 18, 2019, successful Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

"First, it was shock. Then, you benignant of clasp your activity that it's immoderate joke aliases weird PR stunt," Berk said of his guidance to nan comments. "When, instead, location is doubling down, complete and over, you recognize location are still group connected this Earth pinch different monolithic intellect and capacity who genuinely subscribe to not conscionable hatred of Jews, but advocating nan free of them.

"We realized this rumor was infinitely bigger and location was a greater urgency to get nan connection retired and request condemnation to flooded that from our governmental leaders."

Berk took nan money from nan Ye waste and added to what was already invested successful Truth Tells to build retired some a nonprofit and governmental arm, which launched successful June 2022 pinch nan extremity of evaluating Jewish politicians according to their voting records and their support aliases denouncement of antisemitic colleagues successful nan Congressional Progressive Caucus. Members will person a missive grade, and their constituents will beryllium informed via TV ads and societal media campaigns.

Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., behaviour a news convention astir being removed from committee assignments Jan. 25, 2023.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

SCHIFF, SWALWELL, OMAR RESPOND AFTER SPEAKER MCCARTHY KEEPS THEM OFF COMMITTEES: 'POLITICAL VENGEANCE'

While Berk says he’s committed to ensuring Truth Tells remains nonpartisan, he said that’s precocious been challenging, noting that each Jewish Democrat successful Congress voted against removing Omar from her committee seat.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff was mistakenly branded a Republican by a CNN chyron recently. (CNN)

"If you're a Jewish congressperson, you don't get a walk that you conscionable voted for Iron Dome funding. And truthful what if you make nan travel complete location and shingle hands?" he said. "What are you doing to extremity nan guidelines of antisemitism here?

"I firmly judge that nan normalization of this, nan breadcrumbs spell backmost to 2018 erstwhile these Squad members were introduced. And, successful swift time, they each became small stone stars, and they've sewage tens of millions of followers. And those tens of millions of followers … nan mostly of them haven't done their homework astir Israel and Palestine earlier they're getting forced a vantage point.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"And I don't deliberation this wood occurrence of New York City's students being beaten up connected field and mezuzahs being stripped disconnected nan doorway astatine University of Denver and Zionism being banned astatine Berkeley … for illustration it's each commingled to me," Berk said.

"And if this is simply a wood fire, it’s nan Jewish politicians for illustration Cohen and Frankel and Nadler and Raskin that proceed to springiness these group nan oxygen to support this point going."