Maher says he won’t run Kanye West interview: ‘He’s a very charming antisemite’

Talk show host Bill Maher said he refuses to air a previously recorded interview with superstar rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, because of his antisemitic rhetoric.

Maher said Monday in an interview with TMZ that Ye is “helpful for spreading the fertilizer” of the idea that “Israel and the Jews are like the worst people in the world.”

Ye has repeatedly made antisemitic statements over the last two years, including praising Hitler as a guest on the controversial Infowars show and blaming “Jewish media” and “Jewish Zionists” for his various controversies. In 2022, he once threatened to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”

The rapper lost a $1.5 billion deal with Adidas over the comments and was generally ostracized from the media. He posted an apology in Hebrew in December, which was criticized as tone-deaf.

Maher revealed he did a two-hour sit-down interview with Ye amid the controversy for his podcast, “Club Random with Bill Maher.” He did not say when exactly the interview was filmed.

“I thought it was going to be a learning moment,” Maher said. “I mean, we were here for two hours. By the way, we had an amazing, fun time.”

“He’s a very charming antisemite,” he quipped.

Still, he said he will not air the interview because “I’m not going to contribute to this.”