The Breakfast Club - N.O.R.E Apologizes For Drink Champs Interview with Kanye West

Episode Date: October 17, 2022

After some backlash from Kanye West comments on the Drink Champs podcast, the host and friend to the room N.O.R.E calls in to speak his peace on his feelings towards Kanye West and apologize to anyone offended by Kanye's comments on his show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water,

500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zaka Stan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-A-S-T-A-N on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best, and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing.

Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids

and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone.

The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different, inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat.

Nine months before Rosa, it was called a woman. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking musica, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers.

Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only Nuestra Gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Angela Yee, Charlamagne Tha God. We are The Breakfast Club. We got our family member on the line, friend to the room.

N-O-R-E, Nori, good morning. Good morning, man. You know, I'm up every morning listening to y'all, just so y'all know. Keep my skills sharp. We appreciate you for checking in. Norrie said he wanted to call in. What's the word, Norrie? Talk to us.

You know, I just want to be honest. I support freedom of speech. I support anybody, you know, not being sensitive, but I do not support anybody being hurt. I did not realize that the George Floyd statements on my show was so hurtful. And you got to realize it was the first five minutes of the show. Like when he walked in, he told my producer, he said that if he'll stop filming, that he'll walk out. So I didn't want I didn't want a Birdman moment. I didn't want a Birdman moment with y'all,

like, you know, where Birdman walked out. So I wanted the man to speak. But later on, like, I actually checked him about George Floyd's comments. I actually checked him about the White Lives Matters. But it was so later in the episode, and it was so, it was so, like, you know, I was already inebriated at that time

that maybe people looked over it. But I apologize to the George Floyd family. I apologize to anybody that was hurt by Kanye West comments. Although I do support free speech, I am black black. And I'm with Tamika Mallory. I'm with

Until Freedom. I'm with Mice On. That's who I am. In fact, I called Mice On and asked for a shirt because that's what I wanted to have on when Kanye said he was coming through here. We actually posted it and then saw that this was the wrong edit, took it down, and then it got reposted again with those same comments that was there. So it was a mistake on our behalf, on our team behalf, because we don't edit nothing. I think Envy done Drink Champs, Charlamagne has done Drink Champs, and we literally don't edit nothing.

But we will start from here on out because we understand that there's people that's hurt out there. Yeah, I think it's not a freedom of speech thing, nor is it more like a misinformation. It's not a misinformation, it's a lie. Yeah, it's not true. What he said about George Floyd was a lie. What Kanye West said about George Floyd dying

of fentanyl and not the physical impact of the officer, Derek Chauvin, was just a bold-faced lie. And by the way, guys, you know, this'm not, I'm not, this is not think champs. This is drink champs. You know what I'm saying? This is not political champs.

This is drink champs. So we purposely don't bring up politics. We purposely don't bring up religion because of this. And I just, you know, I disagreed with Kanye. I felt like I should have said something a lot earlier. I didn't because I didn't want him to walk out. I didn't want to have a Birdman moment. So, Norrie, you know, people would say that, you know,

we're talking to Norrie from Drink Champs, of course. He just released an interview with Kanye. People would say, well, why do the interview at all? Especially with all the hate speech that he's been spewing the last couple of days. Yeah, you had Fox News. You had Tucker Carlson edit out all his anti-Semitic comments. You saw the shop say that they wasn't going to put out the hate speech. We saw all the things Kanye was texting and, I mean, tweeting and everything else.

Why even do the interview at all? Why even do the interview? You know, that's a great question. And the thing is, that's like people talking about Charlemagne. People talk about Charlemagne and say, Charlemagne is an asshole. Charlemagne is a dick. But then Charlemagne doesn't

show that to me. So I gotta treat Charlemagne how Charlemagne treats me. If Charlemagne treats me like a gentleman, then I'm gonna think Charlemagne is a gentleman. I don't understand Charlemagne rhetoric when he's not around me. You understandlemagne treats me like a gentleman, then I'm going to think Charlemagne is a gentleman. I don't understand Charlemagne rhetoric when he's not around me. You understand what I'm saying? And that's pretty

what it was. I did not think. And other than the George Floyd comment, I thought I conducted a very great interview. You know what I'm saying? I thought that he laughed, he smiled, he drank, he smoked. You know, this was 8 o'clock in the morning. Don't say that, though, because he

said a lot of, he still said a lot of anti-Semitic rhetoric in the interview as well. You know what I mean? Yes, and if you look, by the way, I had four Jewish people there. Steve Rifkin was in the room. Steve Rifkin, who signed Wu-Tang Clan, was in the room. My friend Eric,

who is Jewish, is in the room. My friend Diego, who is Jewish is in the room. My friend Diego, who is Jewish was in the room. And I looked at them to tell them like, yo, tell me whenever he's going across the line, and they're looking and they're saying, Okay, we understand where he's coming from. But none of it I don't support none of it. I don't support the George Ford comments. I don't support the anti Semitism. That's all I have is Jewish friends. All I have is black friends.

That's it. Nori, I was going to ask you when it comes to these George Floyd comments, we see the family may be suing. Is that going to include you in this lawsuit? Did you hear about that? I definitely heard about it. And this is the reason why I'm stepping up is because it's not even about suing or the money. It's about the hurtful thing, man. You know what I mean?

I was locked down. I was a supporter of the George Floyd movement. I saw that video, too. You know what I mean? Like, I seen that cop's knee on his neck. I seen him calling out for whoever. So I'm embarrassed of myself. You know what I'm saying?

Because I've done these interviews before where I come back and I redeem myself. And on this one, I waited too long. I waited too long to actually address him. I spoke to Kanye yesterday morning. I told him I'm going to do this. But I'm also going to, you know, refute these comments because I was disgusted by it as if I wasn't even in the room when I heard it. When I heard it, I was like, wait a minute. Damn, I was there?

And again, I'm just trying to be a journalist. I'm saying, you know what? We just won an award. I want people to know that we won the award because we deserve it. So I'm sitting there thinking about it. I heard Stephen Jackson say something about me. And I'm like, you know what? I'm not even going back at Stephen Jackson.

I'm not going to make a rebuttal. I'm going to tell that brother you're right because I should have checked him. I should have. And I eventually did. But by the time I checked him, I was already inebriated. So you're not hearing the sincerity in my voice. But even if you go look at it,

you can see that Norrie is very serious. It's just that Norrie is also drunk at the same time. And it's called drink chance. It's not called politics chance. What are you going to do to move forward? Yeah, to move forward, Norrie, are there other interviews that you plan to do to kind of combat this?

What do you plan to do? Because I see you reaching out on Twitter to people that you feel like need to come up. Sean King, you know, Dr. Sean King, I want Sean King to come up. I want Dr. Umar. I want Talib Kweli. I want Dr. Umar I want Talib Kweli I want David Banner, I want Killer Mike

because they all know where my heart is, they all know that I'm on black Twitter, they all know I'm on the black you know, you know and to freedom group chat they all know that, you know what I'm saying the fact is, I did fail, I did fail

I don't want to see Drink Champs go down that path. I like Drink Champs being the happy podcast that it is. And what you tried to do was give hip-hop culture a voice. But the reality is, he don't need that right now. That's not what we should be giving a voice to right now. We shouldn't have had Kanye on the platform to begin with. Not at a time like this with the rhetoric that he's spewing. Nah.

Well, yeah, I agree. I agree. I agree. I really did try. I really did try. And I tried to give him a voice. I tried to give him a voice. I tried to give him a platform.

I tried to do that. But, you know, I realize my political stance may not be correct. You know what I'm saying? I agree. You say it wasn't the right place. What about, did Puff reach out to you? You know, I'll tell you this. At first, I was disappointed in Brother Love because Brother Love called me and said,

well, did he diss me? And I was just like, wait a minute. You know, he's so much bigger than you. And then he called me back and he said, you know what? Let's support free speech. Let's support free thinking. Let's support it. It's not free thinking, though.

That's the other thing we got to stop saying. It's not free thinking when all you're doing is repeating white supremacist talking points. You're repeating black Israelite talking points. Like, Kanye West is not a free thinker. We got to stop saying that. There's nothing free about his thoughts at all. What's crazy about it is I don't even think he believes that.

You know what I'm saying? That's my point. He's saying everything he's heard other people already say. That's not free thinking. Look, I think he supports the wow factor. Like the fact that he can have a confederacy flag on. People go, wow. You can have a MAGA hat on. People go, wow. And you can have a MAGA hat on. People go, wow.

But then you ask him, do you promote this confederacy? Do you promote the Trump campaign? And then you ask him, and he won't even give you something about the Trump campaign. He won't even tell you. It's because I think that it's a wow factor. And I think that's the reason why we've been supporting him for so long, whether it's been the speakers, whether it's been whatever. Don't get it wrong. I love Kanye West. I love Kanye. Kanye has done things for me. You know, he's really a great person. The ideology about, you know, black people and Jewish people is not

correct. The sentiments that he said about George Floyd is not correct, and I do not stand for him when it comes to that. Gotcha. But, you know, I just don't want to give up on him. I wouldn't give up on you, Envy. Envy, you told me you voted for a million dollars worth of games on BET Awards. I don't want to give up on Envy. I know Envy is off right now.

You know what I'm saying? I know that. I know that he might be taking, you know, Cesar Z give up on Envy. I know Envy is lost right now. You know what I'm saying? I know that. I know that he might be taking, you know, Sarah Zerb on the low. I'm not sure. But I can't give up on Envy. That's my brother. But you can tell your brother when he's wrong, though.

Absolutely. I definitely told him he was wrong. And I definitely told Envy that when you use clips of Boosie and you don't shout out drink tans, it hurts us. Listen, I try to shout you out all the time, Nori. Let me ask you this. Do you think that Kanye is having some type of breakdown? Because I know people talk about his mental health and people around him, they say, are very concerned about his mental health.

What are your thoughts? Yes, I do believe he's having a mental breakdown. But then I got gotta be honest with you i could have a straight conversation with him and he'll he'll talk to me with nothing but sense kanye knows exactly what he's doing y'all i don't know why i don't know why we keep trying to shoot him all his bail kanye knows exactly what he's doing and by the way two things can be true you can be dealing with mental health issues and you can be a bigot you could be dealing with dealing with mental health issues and be a black white supremacist you could be dealing with mental health issues and you can be a bigot. You could be dealing with mental health issues and be a black white supremacist.

You could be dealing with mental health issues and still be lying on how George Floyd got killed. Yeah. And also they were saying that Candace Owens has a huge influence and part of everything he's saying. Do you agree with that as well? Well, I don't I don't agree with any I don't agree with anybody. Or with his ideology. I don't I can't say this Candace Owens. I can't say with anybody with his ideology. I can't say this is Candace Owens. I can't say it's Trump. I got to say this is the woke factor.

This is the it factor. It's like he gets a kick out of doing something that you say is wrong. Being a contrarian. A lot of people like being a contrarian because it gets attention. And by the way, did you see that? Even Donald Trump says Kanye West is acting too crazy and needs help. Yep. That's what I said.

I got to step up. Let's put a bow on it, Nori. You feel like you made a mistake with the Kanye interview. That's number one. One million percent. And by the way, I could come on here and say, guess what, guys? That's how Kanye thinks, and that's it. And guess what?

People will forgive me and let me get away with that. But that's not what I'm doing. I failed my people. I feel like I failed my people. This is what I wanted to do. Charlamagne didn't call me and say, call up the breakfast club. I called Charlamagne and said, I would like to apologize to my people. Because after me hearing it, because I don't watch my own interviews, by the way. I'm that great. You know what I mean? I'm that great that I don't watch my own interviews, by the way.

I'm that great. You know what I mean? I'm that great that I don't watch my own interviews. But when I watch this one, I cringe. I cringe. And I felt terrible. So I have to say sorry. I have to say sorry to anybody that was hurt by his rhetoric, anybody that was hurt by his speech, anybody that was hurt.

I want to apologize to the George Floyd family. I want to apologize to the George Floyd family. I want to apologize to Steven Jackson. I want to apologize to everybody that was hurt. For me, letting a man say something on my platform, because by the way, contrary to popular belief, we own Drink Champs. We own our IPO. So the person to blame, the person to blame

is us. I'm not going to blame EFN. I'm not going to blame Puff Daddy, as you guys asked me earlier. I'm actually going to say, you know what? Six years of this, I don't have the excuse that I'm not going to blame Puff Daddy, as you guys asked me earlier. I'm actually going to say, you know what? Six years of this, I don't have the excuse that I'm not a journalist. I have responsibility that I have to come and I have to say I'm sorry because my people support me, so I do not want my people feeling like I didn't step up at the time. But if you watch the whole three-hour, 38-minute interview,

I represent for George Floyd five, six, seven times. I represent for George Floyd five, six, seven times. I represent for black people five, six, seven times. Hey, Norrie, like I told you, you should have put all that out first then, by the way. No, I did. You know what it is, Charlemagne? Border Alert came and they took the clip and then they ran with it. I can't be mad at Border Alert when they're taking the clip now that's working against me because I'd be happy at Border Alert

when they take a clip that works with me. Right. You understand? So I couldn't really do it. I had to die by the sword. And also, Norrie, as your friend and as your business partner, I told you last week, don't do this. It's not worth the trouble.

You did. I told you this twice before. You did. But, Norrie, we appreciate you for checking in, brother. Hold on, hold on, last week, don't do this. It's not worth the trouble. You did. I told you this twice before. You did. Well, Norrie, we appreciate you for checking in, brother. Hold on, hold on, hold on, Andy. I did not know he was going to go there, Charlemagne. You had to know, Norrie. You've been doing it all week.

No, no. Nah, I just did. I just, by the way, by the way, if you watch the interview, there's a certain respect that you can see that Kanye has for me. There's a certain respect that you can see I have for Kanye. So I did not think that this rhetoric went over my head. But bottom line, to anybody that was hurt, I apologize.

I'm moving forward. We're dropping Takeoff and Quervo this week. I apologize for... I know I'm not in total freedom. I know I'm not... I know people don't look at me like my son, but my heart is my son. You know what I'm saying? My heart is Tamika. You know what I'm not in total freedom. I know I'm not I know people don't look at me like my son, but my heart is my son. You know what I'm saying? My heart is Tamika. You know what I'm saying? So, but for next

time, I'm going to listen to you, Charlamagne, and I'm not going to have this on or if it's going to have it on, I'm going to address it at the timely fashion that it deserves to be addressed. So for anybody that was hurt by Kanye's comment, I'm not apologizing for Kanye, but I'm apologizing for Kanye, but I'm apologizing for his speech.

I'm apologizing for... You're apologizing for having him on. You are. You're apologizing for having him on. Yeah. Me, me. I don't know if he's apologizing. I know he's apologizing because I spoke to him yesterday morning,

and he was like, yo, I think that part was supposed to go out. And I said, yes, it was supposed to go out. Is it out now, or is it still in the interview that's posted um i have no idea because like i said i don't really watch my own i mean i would still take it out i mean i tried to take it out like again and i just think y'all i think y'all should take the whole thing down man listen i think that's where we're coming to. We're coming to the conclusion of what we're going to do, how we're going to move forward. Again, I still respect

freedom of speech. I think freedom of speech should be free, but I think that this is the limit where we kind of went too far, where he kind of went too far, and we are responsible because we let it on our platform. I'm embarrassed. I do not stand by

any rhetoric like that, but I want to apologize for even being stupid enough to not watch this episode prior to it coming out. So, I'm truly sorry. We love you, Neno. Thank you, Nori. Thank y'all. Alright, one love, y'all.

Alright, brother. Alright, that was Nori, Drink Champ. Thank you, Nori. Thank you. Thank y'all. Thank y'all. All right. One love, y'all. All right, brother. Peace. Peace. Peace. All right. That was Nori, drink champ. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own?

I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh, my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs,

the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.

Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best, and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records.

Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Each episode is about a different, inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me.

Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was called a woman. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise.

Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking música, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life

stories, combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight up comedia, and that's a song that only Nuestra Gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.