Maverick Carter, LeBron James’s business partner on the HBO show The Shop: Uninterrupted, announced the show’s recently taped episode featuring rapper and songwriter Kanye West (who now goes by Ye) will not air.
ESPN’s Justin Tinsley reported Ye did not back down from his use of antisemitic comments on the episode, the same comments he made during a recent Fox News interview. In an exclusive statement to ESPN’s Andscape, Carter—the CEO of SpringHill Entertainment—made the decision to not air the episode involving Ye.
Carter thought Ye was “capable of a respectful discussion” and “ready to address all his recent comments” that have generated a lot of reactions from media and fans.
“Unfortunately, he [Ye] used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes,” Carter said in the statement. “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 [Ye] wanted a different conversation and apologize to our guests and crew. Hate speech should never have an audience.”
Other guests in the episode included shoe designer Salehe Bembury and rapper Jeezy, whom Ye worked with in creating the 2008 hit record “Put On” from his third studio album titled The Recession.
According to Tinsley, James was not in attendance during the taping of Ye’s episode on the popular HBO show. The recent news involving Ye comes following a string of outlandish moments from the rapper within the last seven days.
At his Paris Fashion Week runway show, Ye introduced shirts with the expression “White Lives Matter,” which drew a rash of disapproval. Less than a week ago in an interview on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, Ye made comments about abortion in the Black community, his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and the physical appearance of singer and rapper Lizzo.
Ye’s name also made rounds on social media after he recreated a text-based conversation between him and Sean “Diddy” Combs on Instagram. In the explosive messages, Ye told Combs he would use him as “an example” to Jewish people and that he constructed a plan to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
