Source: Marcus Ingram / Getty
N.O.R.E. is backpedaling after his Drink Champs interview with Kanye West was met with swift backlash online.
In two separate interviews with NYC radio on Monday (October 17), the New York rapper and BET Hip Hop Award winner for “Best Hip-Hop Platform” apologized for the hurt he caused by allowing West to spew antisemitic rhetoric and make false claims about the 2020 death of George Floyd.
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“I support freedom of speech, I support anybody not being censored, but I do not support anybody being hurt,” N.O.R.E. said. “I did not realize the George Floyd statements on my show were so hurtful, and you gotta realize – it was the first five minutes of the show. He walked in, he told my producer if we stopped filming, he’ll walk out. And I didn’t want a Birdman moment.
“I apologize to the George Floyd family, I apologize to anybody who was hurt by Kanye West’s comments. I do support free speech and I’m Black Black.”
N.O.R.E went on to show love for Tamika Mallory and said the edit that was shared online was the incorrect one yet was re-uploaded online. He did say about two hours into the episode, he attempted to push back at Ye’s comments but felt fans didn’t get far enough into the three-hour interview to hear them.
“I felt like I had control,” he told WQHT. “At the time, I’ve been the guy they said they blackballed. I was thinking of that, thinking I’ve been blackballed before. So I said, let me let this guy speak. Am I apologetic? Yes, I’m super apologetic. I’ve never faced this before but I wanna say, I’m sorry! I have a responsibility when I have an audience.
“At the end of the day as a journalist, I did my job, I let a person talk. But I’m Black! I am George Floyd, I am Virgil … I didn’t know until I saw it. I don’t even watch my own interviews, I just think I’m that dope. I don’t watch myself, but I watched it back and I was embarrassed. Like, what did you just let him say?”
In other Ye news, he’s found a new social media home after being booted from Instagram and Twitter for antisemitic rhetoric and bullying. According to NBC News, the multi-hyphenate is purchasing the conservative-leaning social media network Parler. Touted as a home for “free speech” and the “uncancelable,” it was forced offline for its involvement in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Parler’s current CEO is George Farmer, the husband of Ye’s buddy Candace Owens.
N.O.R.E. Apologizes For Kanye West ‘Drink Champs’ Episode: ‘I Was Embarassed’ was originally published on hot1009.com
