Bill Maher said he filmed a two-hour interview with Kanye West but decided not to air it for fear of spreading the rapper’s “idea that Israel and Jews are the worst people in the world.” revealed.
“He’s a very fascinating anti-Semite,” said Maher, a documentary examining Kanye West, now known as Ye, and his public rants against Donald Trump, Jesus, Adolf Hitler, and more. he added in “TMZ Investigates.”
Maher noted that Ye was repeatedly able to bounce back despite 10 minutes of divisive accusations. “I think the problem is that he primarily appeals to young people — obviously he’s a rock star –” the host of the podcast “Club Random with Bill Maher” said on Monday’s episode. he told TMZ in the documentary.
“They don’t know much about the Middle East or Jews, and they certainly don’t know much,” Maher added of Ye’s younger fans.
“So I feel like the combination with Kanye helped him spread fertilizer against the idea that Israelis and Jews are like the worst people in the world. Fertilizer meaning but. “
Maher added, “You’re not the only one in America who feels that way.” “Jews are not universally loved except for Kanye West,” he said, noting that the episode with the 46-year-old “Stronger” singer was meant to be a “teaching moment.”
TMZ founder Harvey Levin said, “Wait a minute, Bill. The same thing goes for Hitler. A lot of people wondered what he was thinking, but in Kanye’s case, he didn’t say it out loud.” The fact that you said it gave other people permission to say it too, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Maher replied in an exchange previously reported by Mediaite. “That’s why I’m not airing this episode, because I’m not going to contribute to this.”
It’s unclear when Ms. Maher filmed her podcast episode with Ms. Yeh, or whether it was filmed before she apologized in December “to the Jewish community for the unintentional outburst caused by my words and actions.” So, Ye wrote in Hebrew on her Instagram Story.
Ye’s bizarre remarks drew mixed reviews from onlookers who weren’t sure if the rapper was genuine, but they came 10 days after Ye made a slew of anti-Semitic remarks. He did not mention the specific moment when he did so.
“That’s 60 million of us in America, 60 million Jews around the world,” West rants in the video. Obtained by TMZ. “But who’s going to build the hospitals? He’s a Zionist, Trump. This is what I was trying to tell you: Jesus Christ, Hitler, you third parties, don’t do it.” Please support us.”
In October 2022, Ye was also locked out of his Twitter account at the time after posting, “I’m a little sleepy tonight, but when I wake up, I’m going to denounce Jews to Descon 3.”
After this tweet, Adidas and Gap cut ties with Mr. Ye, who also told Alex Jones in an interview with Infowars, “I love Hitler.”
“Every human being has something of value that they bring to the table, especially Hitler,” Ye said in a conversation with an alt-right radio show host.
Adidas, which sells the popular Yeezys shoes in collaboration with the rapper, said at the time that it “does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other form of hate speech.”
The sports apparel giant has since sold off some of its remaining Yeezy inventory, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise and Keeta Floyd Social Change Study, run by the brother of social justice advocate Philonise Floyd. Donated to organizations such as George Floyd.
Gap, which sold its own Yeezy collection of T-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants, also suffered losses from a failed partnership with the embattled rapper.
The company later sued Mr. Ye for $2 million, alleging that he made unauthorized changes to a Los Angeles rental property that the landlord is trying to recover.
Mr. Ye lost his billionaire status as a result of the aborted deals with Adidas and Gap. Of his estimated $2 billion in assets, a whopping $1.5 billion came from relationships with apparel companies.
