Jeezy has finally addressed the unaired episode of The Shop featuring Kanye West.
The Atlanta rapper was tapped to appear on the series alongside footwear designer Salehe Bembury and Ye. The episode was filmed amid mounting controversy over Ye’s antisemitic comments, his “white lives matter” T-shirt unveiled during Paris Fashion Week, and other social media antics.
Shortly after filming wrapped, Maverick Carter announced his SpringHill Company was shelving the episode for good, citing Ye’s decision to use the platform to “reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.” Carter hosts the online series with LeBron James, who reportedly wasn’t present at the taping.
Jeezy was questioned about the incident during a Wednesday appearance on Ebro in the Morning, where he declined to speak ill of Kanye or the team behind The Shop.
“I was just there to do my thing. But again, it’s not my business or place to speak on another man, you know what I mean?” he told the hosts at the 17:44 mark above, before cracking a joke. “That’s just how I’m rockin’. I was a little, like, ‘Damn. They canceled me, I gotta go see Ebro now. I got a project coming out.’ Shoutout to Snowfall right now.”
The 45-year-old continued, “I can’t say I understood why they took it off, I just know that I came there, we did it, and I got a call and they said, ‘It’s a wrap.’ I didn’t take it personally.”
Jeezy suggested there was no bad blood between him and SpringHill Company, and revealed he was asked to return for an episode featuring Tyler Perry.
You can check out Jeezy’s full interview above. His Snowfall project is set to arrive this Friday.
Kanye appeared on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show Wednesday to address the antisemitism controversy, which was fueled by a tweet in which he pledged to go “death con 3” on Jewish people. He told the host he didn’t regret the post, but apologized to anyone who was hurt by it.
“I will say I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the DEFCON [comment], the confusion that I caused,” Ye, 45, said. “I felt like I caused hurt and confusion. And I’m sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I have been through.”
Maverick Carter’s full statement on canceling the Shop episode read, “Kanye was booked weeks ago and, after talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments. Unfortunately, he used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes. We have made the decision not to air this episode or any of Kanye’s remarks. While The Shop embraces thoughtful discourse and differing opinions, we have zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind and will never allow our channels to be used to promote hate. I take full responsibility for believing Kanye wanted a different conversation and apologize to our guests and crew. Hate speech should never have an audience.”
