An episode of the LeBron James-produced “The Shop: Uninterrupted” featuring Kanye West will not air due to “hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes” that West said during his appearance on the show. LeBron James was not present when West’s remarks were recorded.
In a statement provided to Andscape, CEO of “The Shop” production company Springhill Entertainment, Maverick Carter, confirmed West was invited to appear on the show after his recent outbursts. Carter said he believed West was ‘capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address’ his recent comments, but was mistaken: “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. 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.”
The incident comes after West was suspended by Instagram for unspecified violations of the company’s content policies, and after he then tweeted antisemitic threats, he was blocked from Twitter. West also gave an interview to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, where it later revealed that West made several hateful and bigoted remarks during the talk, which Carlson edited out without disclosing to viewers.
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