Lil Dicky doesn’t believe Kanye West was actually being antisemitic on the numerous occasions during which he spoke out against Jewish people.
The rapper/actor – who is Jewish – appeared on the latest episode of Flagrant published on Wednesday (January 31) to discuss the new Dave soundtrack Penith. Amid the extended conversation, Dicky got into his thoughts on Ye, who he believes really just doubles down on things because he’s a contrarian, not because he’s hateful.
“All I can tell you is my experience with Kanye West, which was in 2017 I ended up getting involved in his – he had a basketball run,” Dicky explained. “I literally met him on the basketball court. First time meeting Kanye, by the way – full court three on three, me guarding Kanye. And so that’s my first time meeting him. Very interesting game. He can hoop a little bit.”
The pair ended up playing twice a week for nearly a year and it evolved into a friendship where Ye would preview new music for him and show him the clothing he was designing.
“He was nothing but nice to me the entire time,” he added. “Truly was one of the nicest. And this is my hero. […] I owe a lot to his art for making me… My attitude is probably formed by early Kanye.”
And though they lost touch after Ye changed his number and team, Lil Dicky adamantly believes the polarizing artist has love for Jewish people.
“I obviously see all the things and I was surprised because I don’t think in his heart that Kanye dislikes Jewish people,” he said. “I know he knows I’m Jewish, I know he likes me. In my heart I feel like he probably said something and and it was the wrong thing, I’m sure.
“I’m not denying that he’ll say the wrong thing often. I think he might have said the wrong thing, people got outraged. I think the thing that he can’t stand the most is when people tell him what he can or cannot say. And he leaned into it.”
He continued: “And that’s the reality. Now I don’t think you should be leaning into it. I’m not saying what he did is right. I think that there should be a sensitivity to Jewish people. But this is really me theorizing. I’m not that close to the situation. I played basketball with him for a year. But let me tell ya, he was the sweetest man. And I watched him interact with a variety of different people being really nice.”
You can watch the full interview below. The Kanye conversation begins at the 2:02:51 mark.
Kanye West is reportedly releasing a 40-minute apology for his antisemitic remarks ahead of the release of Vultures, his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign.
According to TMZ, the rapper put a camera crew together to shoot an apology video several weeks ago, with West speaking directly to the camera.
Lil Dicky To Release ‘Dave’ Soundtrack Album
However, the news outlet claims the video is “rambling” and at times it is hard to understand what Kanye is saying.
The footage is apparently planned for release ahead of Vultures, which is currently scheduled to arrive on February 9 after multiple delays dating back to last year.
Kanye previously publicly apologized to the Jewish community in an Instagram post written in Hebrew for comments he has made in the past, which include praising Hitler, spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories and claiming he was going to go “death [sic] con 3 on Jewish people.”
