A North Carolina high school valedictorian who was shamed by a heckling senior after appearing to quote Ye in his graduation speech has told how the firestorm has left him feeling “distressed.”
Hoggard High School student Kyler Hosek was publicly scolded by senior Sara Rudeseal during Saturday’s ceremony after he seemed to mirror a phrase said by Ye during a sit-down with Infowars founder Alex Jones in 2022, where he glorified Hitler.
“I’m distressed that a quote used in my speech distracted from the message I intended to share,” Hosek told WECT Tuesday before emphatically condemning antisemitism.
“Those beliefs do not reflect my values.”
During his speech, Hosek spoke about how graduates can succeed in the world of artificial intelligence, but it was the last part of his remarks that sparked the most controversy.
“As my biggest inspiration once said, ‘Every human being has something of value that they bring to the table,’” he told his fellow graduates.
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.”
