Kanye West sat down for an interview on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, and the Real Time host has now revealed why the two-hour conversation never saw the light of day.
Speaking on an episode of TMZ Investigates focused on how Ye has managed to maintain pop culture relevance despite his embrace of anti-Semitism, Maher opened up about the lost Club Random episode.
“The problem I think is that he appeals mostly—of course, he’s a rock star—to young people,” the 68-year-old explained. “They don’t know much, and they surely don’t know much about the Middle East or Jews. So the combination of, you know, 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.”
Maher, who has also courted controversy in the past for racism and homophobia, confirmed that he and West recorded a chat he doesn’t feel comfortable releasing.
“I had Kanye right here at Club Random. We did an episode with him,” he continued. “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,” said Maher. “It’s not like the Jews are universally loved except for Kanye West.”
When it was highlighted to Maher that someone could, perhaps, label Adolf Hitler as a “charming anti-Semite,” it prompted the Real Time host to suggest that’s exactly why he doesn’t want to release the Club Random episode. “Yes, exactly,” he said. “That’s why I wouldn’t air that episode. Because I’m not going to contribute to this.”
Despite Maher literally cancelling an episode with Kanye, he has often railed against "cancel culture." He has also called college students "snowflakes" for protesting what they deemed as hate speech on campus. He has also platformed many right-wing figures over the years. In 2017, he defended having controversial figures like Milo Yiannopoulos on his show by saying, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." However, Maher clearly seems to be drawing the line when it comes to Kanye's antisemitism.
In December, Ye issued a public apology to the Jewish community, which may or may not have been AI-generated. In 2022, Ye made a series of anti-Semitic comments on social media and praised Hitler in an interview with far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Despite the controversy, he has continued to maintain a rabid fanbase awaiting the release date of his long-gestating Ty Dolla Sign collaborative album Vultures. He’s also since gotten back on good terms with Kid Cudi, met with underground hip-hop icon JPEGMAFIA, and received support from Lil Dicky, who is Jewish.
“I was, like, surprised,” Dicky recently said on the Flagrant podcast. “I don’t think in his heart Kanye dislikes Jewish people. I know he knows I’m Jewish. I know he likes me. You know what I mean? In my heart, I feel like he probably said something and it was the wrong thing.”
