Judd Apatow and many more called out Kanye West after he made a series of antisemitic remarks, including praising Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler, during an appearance on controversial right-wing personality and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars podcast on Thursday, December 1. On the show, the host told Kanye he was “not a Nazi,” but the rapper proceeded to praise the dictator. “I see good things about Hitler also. I love everyone, and Jewish people are not going to tell me, ‘You can love us and you can love what we’re doing to you with the contracts,’” he said.
Kanye on Alex Jones:
“Well, I see good things about Hitler also.” pic.twitter.com/9zXjtCVqdQ
— Blaze Music (@blazemusicmedia) December 1, 2022
Wearing a black mask, which covered his entire face, Kanye continued to share antisemitic conspiracies about Jewish people and incorrectly credited Hitler for inventing highways and the microphone, and offered praise for him. “Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler,” the rapper said.
Later in the interview, Kanye took his comments a step further and chimed in after the host said he doesn’t like Nazis. “I like Hitler,” he said in a video. At another point, Jones referred to Nazis as “thugs” and Kanye appeared to defend the hate group. “They did good things too. We got to stop dissing the Nazis all the time,” he said on the podcast. “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.”
After the controversial statements, a number of celebrities spoke out against Kanye and antisemitism, denouncing his harmful rhetoric and his appearance on the podcast.
Judd Apatow
Kanye literally became an asshole. https://t.co/9i1BTb5DQD
— Judd Apatow 🇺🇦 (@JuddApatow) December 1, 2022
Comedy icon Judd Apatow retweeted a few posts denouncing Kanye and his antisemitism. He also quote-tweeted someone who had shared a screenshot of Kanye and Alex Jones, seemingly taken from the desk at the podcast. “Kanye literally became an a*****e,” he wrote.
Meghan McCain
Fuck Kanye and everyone who keeps giving him a platform.
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) December 1, 2022
Conservative commentator and former View co-host Meghan McCain also called for people to stop giving the rapper a place to spew hateful rhetoric from. “F**k Kanye and everyone who keeps giving him a platform,” she tweeted.
Josh Gad
It’s not what Kanye West says that scares me. It’s that he has 30 million followers who listen to his insanity on top of a cheerleader in the form of the current owner of this platform. No one who says “I love Hitler” should be allowed any oxygen on any social platform (period).
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) December 1, 2022
Actor Josh Gad echoed the fears of the rapper being able to have a platform to spread his beliefs, making a small jab at Twitter owner Elon Musk for allowing him to have access to the social media site. “It’s not what Kanye West says that scares me. It’s that he has 30 million followers who listen to his insanity on top of a cheerleader in the form of the current owner of this platform. No one who says ‘I love Hitler’ should be allowed any oxygen on any social platform (period),” he wrote.