Why Bill Maher Shelved “Very Charming Anti-Semite” Kanye West’s 2-Hour Interview

Marc Griffin
·3 min read
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Bill Maher has revealed that he scrapped an episode of his Club Random podcast featuring Kanye West over his problematic views. TMZ recently caught up with Maher, where the comedian talked about the shelved episode.

The outlet asked how Ye managed to stay relevant in the zeitgeist despite peddling hateful rhetoric. Maher insisted that his popularity with America’s younger demographic may have something to do with it. The 68-year-old, who has had problematic controversies of his own, referred to West as a “very charming anti-Semite.” However, he asserted that he doesn’t want to platform his views.

“The problem…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 expressed. “So the combination of Kanye out there…I feel like he was sort of 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.”

“I had Kanye right here at Club Random. We did an episode with him. I thought it was gonna 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…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,” he added.

TMZ then mentioned that Adolf Hitler could be labeled as a “charming anti-Semite.” Maher explained that that is precisely his point. He insisted that he doesn’t want to help spread that kind of vitriol against Jewish people.” Yes, exactly. That’s why I wouldn’t air that episode. Because I’m not going to contribute to this.”

Lil Dicky recently commented on Ye being labeled an anti-Semite. During a conversation with the FLAGRANT podcast, Dicky opened up about his relationship with West. Dicky expressed that he doesn’t think “in his heart Kanye dislikes Jewish people.”

The rapper also recalled a moment when the Chicago artist was “nothing but nice” to him.

“Look, all I can tell you is my experience with Kanye West, which was in 2017…Truly was, like, one of the nicest,” Dicky said. “And this is my hero. I told him to his face. I don’t know if I would have the self-belief in my formative years [if I] weren’t listening to this other person having this insane self-belief and that being the soundtrack to my life. I believe that. I owe a lot to his art.”

“I obviously see all the things. I was, like, surprised. Because I don’t think in his heart Kanye dislikes Jewish people. I know he knows I’m Jewish. I know he likes me. In my heart, I feel like he probably said something and it was the wrong thing. I’m not denying that he’ll say the wrong thing often. I think he might have said the wrong thing, people got outraged. I think the thing that he can’t stand the most is when people tell him what he can or cannot say. He leaned into it. And that’s the reality. Now, I don’t think you should be leaning into it.”

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