Jewish Podcast Host Lex Fridman Grills Ye in Heated Antisemitism Discussion

A conversation about Kanye West's recent controversial comments got heated after podcast host Lex Fridman called him out on his "bulls**t."

Earlier this month, the rapper tweeted he was "going death con 3" on Jewish people and made other antisemitic comments, including that Diddy was controlled by Jewish people. The comments sparked an outcry to boycott his Yeezy shoes that ended with Adidas severing its ties with Ye on October 25. Ye was dropped by talent agency CAA and fashion label Balenciaga, as well.

After interviews with Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan, West appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast for a two-and-a-half-hour conversation that included Fridman, who is Jewish, asking West if he has someone in his life to "call you out on your bulls**t."

"What's my bulls**t?" West asked Fridman, with the host pointing out the fashion designer's recent comments about Jewish media.

"I grew up in the Soviet Union. I'm Jewish, parts of my family perished in the Holocaust of Nazi Germany," Fridman said at one point in the interview. "I have to push back...When you say 'Jewish media,' there's an echo of a pain that people feel."

"The right thing is not to say there's Jewish control of the media," he added.

West shouted back: "That's incorrect though! That's a f**king lie. There is. And they did come and bully me and proved the point."

The rapper said that he had a friend suggest he visit a Holocaust museum, to which he replied, "let's visit our Holocaust Museum: Planned Parenthood." West alleged that abortion was to blame for half the deaths in the Black community. He had previously made similar statements, claiming abortion is a form of population control in America.

Later on during their discussion, West told Fridman he doesn't want to keep repeating himself in regards to their discussion on Jewish people. Fridman replied: "I don't know if it resonated because you keep saying the words."

West raised his voice at this point. "Did it resonate to y'all that y'all didn't do nothing about it? And all y'all want to do is have somebody apologize and sweep under the rug your bulls**t that you've been doing the whole time. You on the same bulls**t as the other people. So you're doing the same thing, that the other, let's say media because I'm not allowed to say, has done."

"Which is what, man?" Fridman asked. "I'm trying to call you out on your bulls**t because I hope I'm somebody you can trust."

"I don't f**king trust you," West said with a raised voice.

"Well you should find somebody in your life you can trust," Fridman said.

"Don't tell me what I should do. I'm not one of your BLM marchers," West said.

From there, the conversation moved on to West's recent Candace Owens documentary, his comments about George Floyd, and West's plan to make an all-Black engineering company. Eventually, Fridman brought up West's comment that he didn't trust the podcast host.

"People should not doubt Ye. I gotta tell you, I have to be honest. This is silly because you don't know me but it hurt when you say you don't trust me. You kind of lost me. I don't care about views, or clickbait, or any of that bulls**t," Fridman said.

"I thought you were one of the greatest artists ever and it'd be cool to talk to you. I just feel like you got pain you're working through. I've never had anyone say that to me. I'm just being a mess about it I guess. That's f**ked up though, but maybe it's not. Maybe you shouldn't trust anybody."

"Do you think I would trust anybody at this point in my life?" West responded.

Ye said that his right-wing views have caused him to lose his wife (Kim Kardashian; their divorce was finalized in March 2022), kids, his "best friend in fashion" and the support of the Black community.

After the hate group Goyim Defense League posted banners reading "Kanye is right about the Jews" over Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, Kardashian condemned her ex-husband's remarks on Twitter, writing: "Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on this terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end."

West also suggested that a Jewish conspiracy was to blame for his being diagnosed with mental illness, suggesting his "Jewish trainer" brought him to a hospital and a "Jewish doctor" diagnosed him with bipolar disorder and then "put it in the press."

Newsweek reached out to Lex Fridman for comment.