With all of the controversial headlines Kanye West has been making recently — for his anti-Semitic rhetoric, comments about George Floyd’s 2020 murder and his “White Lives Matter” fashion show drama — alleged comments the rapper made in another past interview have become a topic of conversation. However, these statements from his 2019 interview for David Letterman’s My Next Guess Needs No Introduction, which audience members said mentioned Nazis, Rihanna and more, were censored from the final product presented to those with a Netflix subscription.
Audience members have come forward to talk about David Letterman’s Netflix series, saying that what was aired on the streaming service in May 2019 was not an accurate representation of the famed talk show host’s conversation with Kanye West. Two people who were there for the taping — Noah Reich and David Maldonado of Los Angeles — told TheWrap that the rapper shared alt-right beliefs and conspiracy theories, allegedly saying that liberals treated anyone wearing a red MAGA cap “like they were Nazis.”
It was also alleged that Ye spoke about a Hollywood power structure that he thought was behind #MeToo — a statement that Noah Reich took to be a reference to Jewish people. The #MeToo movement was reportedly a recurring theme during the interview, as another unaired portion featured Kim Kardashian’s estranged husband ranting about a music executive — who the audience apparently understood to be R. Kelly — being “MeToo-ed,” and complaining that the media always believed the women in these situations.
As an example, he puportedly brought up Chris Brown’s 2009 felony assault of singer Rihanna, with Reich claiming that Ye said:
Chris Brown’s career is basically over and you have Rihanna and everyone took her side. She must have done something to merit what happened to her.
The Wrap was unable to independently verify these alleged quotes, and Netflix did not provide a copy of the unedited tape or transcript. David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants, which produced My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, said more than five hours of footage was edited down to get the 55-minute episode that aired. In a written statement, the company said Kanye West told Letterman he’d recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which led to a conversation about mental illness, before it turned to #MeToo. The statement read, in part:
Mr. West subsequently began an offensive rant about the MeToo movement. He also later spoke about liberals purportedly bullying Trump supporters, and about free speech being suppressed. These points were represented in the show, the producers went to great lengths to accurately present them, and Dave challenged him on each of these.
Worldwide Pants also said in the statement that “unfounded attacks on specific individuals are not included out of privacy, accuracy and legal concerns.” Netflix said in its own release, per The Wrap, that the episode was edited for time and that producers tried to represent the conversation and variety of issues that were discussed.
Howard Stern recently spoke out against Kanye West’s mental illness being used as an excuse for his anti-Semitic behavior, and the rapper said he’s been “beat to a pulp,” by businesses that have severed their relationship with him due to his anti-Semitism. Ye apparently had his Instagram account is suspended until November 29, he allegedly said on Parler (via NBC News), due to additional comments about “Jewish business people.”
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction can be streamed on Netflix — including Season 2’s episode with Kanye West, and you can check out what else is coming soon to TV and streaming with our 2022 TV schedule.
