Kanye “Ye” West is doubling down on his recent controversial comments, using “more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes” in a taping of a new episode of the YouTube talk show Uninterrupted The Shop.
The producers behind The Shop, which is executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, have decided against airing the episode or revealing what West said. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Carter said, “Yesterday we taped an episode of The Shop with Kanye West. 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.”
The statement continues, “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.”
Sources told THR that James was not at the taping in question.
THR has reached out to YouTube for comment.
The Shop controversy is just the latest incident of West using language widely deemed to be racist or hate speech. Last Friday, the rapper-turned-fashion mogul set off a firestorm after he used antisemitic language in an Instagram post which saw the post pulled down and West locked out of his account.
On Saturday, West then returned to Twitter after a long hiatus from using the social media platform, but he again posted a tweet that was antisemitic, writing, “I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” The tweet was later taken down for violating Twitter’s rules.
West’s social media posts have been condemned by groups like the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance.
On Sunday, Elon Musk, the prospective new owner of Twitter, tweeted that he had spoken to West about his racist tweet. Taking a highly personal approach to content moderation, Musk tweeted, “Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart.”
The controversy continued on Tuesday after tech publication Motherboard said it had obtained leaked footage from West’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News. The cut footage allegedly contained several antisemitic statements made by West and the statement that he is vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as several strange and confusing claims, Motherboard reported.
