Bill Maher has revealed that he will be shelving his two-hour interview with Kanye West calling him “a very charming anti-Semite”.
- READ MORE: With his “White Lives Matter” stunt, has Kanye West finally hit the point of no return?
The comedian and writer shared that he sat down with the ‘No More Parties In LA’ rapper and they filmed a two-hour-long episode for Maher’s Club Random podcast. In an interview with TMZ for their TMZ Investigates series, Maher said that the episode would not be aired due to West’s antisemitism.
“I thought it was going to be a learning moment.” Maher said while on TMZ Investigates which aired on February 5, titled “Unhinged but Unstoppable.”
He continued: “We were here for two hours. By the way, we had an amazing, fun time. He’s a very charming antisemite. And by the way, he’s not the only one in America who feels that way. It’s not like the Jews are universally loved except for Kanye West.”
“The problem, I think, is that he appeals mostly — of course he’s a rock star — to young people,” Maher added elsewhere in the interview. “They don’t know much and they surely don’t know much about the Middle East or Jews. So the combination of Kanye out there — I feel like he was helpful for spreading the fertilizer, and I do mean fertilizer, for this idea that Israel and the Jews are the worst people in the world.”
Harvey Levin, the founder of TMZ, added: “A lot of people were thinking what he was thinking, but in Kanye’s case, the fact that he’s saying it out loud gives other people permission to say it too, right?,” to which Maher responded with: “Yes, exactly. That’s why I wouldn’t air that episode, because I’m not going to contribute to this.”
West – who now goes by Ye – was first accused of antisemitism in October 2022 following a series of posts on both Twitter and Instagram, which resulted in the suspension of his accounts on both social media sites.
Back in December, the rapper apologised to the Jewish community for his previous antisemitic comments.
West shared a post written in Hebrew, which when translated into English read: “I sincerely apologise to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions. It was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.
“I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me and I am committed to making amends and promoting greater unity.”
In other Ye news, he and Ty Dolla Sign recently shared the music video for a new track titled ‘Talking/Once Again’ – starring North West.
