Bill Maher conducted a two-hour interview with rapper Kanye West but will not air it as he is afraid it will spread the “idea that Israel and the Jews are like [sic] the worst people in the world.”
“I had Kanye right here at Club Random, we did an episode with him. I thought it was going to be a learning moment. I mean, we were here for two hours. By the way, we had an amazing, fun time. He’s a very charming anti-Semite,” Maher said in an interview with TMZ on Monday.
“The problem, I think, is that he appeals mostly — of course, he’s a rock star — to young people. They don’t know much and they surely don’t know much about the Middle East or Jews,” Maher said. “So the combination of, you know, Kanye out there — I feel like he sort of like was helpful for spreading the fertilizer, and I do mean fertilizer, for this idea that Israel and the Jews are like the worst people in the world,” he continued, adding: “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, okay?… That’s why I wouldn’t air that episode. Because I’m not going to contribute to this.”
West has faced continued accusations of anti-Semitism after a series of controversial remarks about Jews in 2022 and 2023 and a 2023 interview with Alex Jones in which the rapper praised Adolf Hitler.
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