Jonah Hill still thinks it’s “bizarre” that the artist formerly known as Kanye West said his performance in the 2012 comedy 21 Jump Street made him “like Jewish people again.”
In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, which can be seen in full here, Hill spoke about his upcoming directorial effort Outcome, in which he plays the crisis lawyer of a character portrayed by Keanu Reeves. Lowe highlighted that there’s a joke in the movie about Ye, who famously said in 2023 that he “likes Jewish people again” after watching Hill in 21 Jump Street.
“In my office, there’s a big framed picture of Ye,” Hill told Lowe. “He was a client of [my character].” During the scene, Hill’s character brings Reeve’s character into his office for a meeting after a mysterious, controversial video surfaced online. The meeting is filled with a bunch of different figures representing different demographics, including a women’s rights lawyer and a Black civil rights leader.
“And then there’s a joke, I say, ‘Where’s the guy from the anti-semitism community? Why isn’t he here?’” Hill continued. “My character’s assistant says, ‘Oh, we did the research, and it turns out hating Jews doesn’t hurt your career, it helps it.’ And it cuts to the picture of Kanye.”
He said that he didn’t include the joke in the movie to “take a shot at Kanye,” but because of that strange moment in 2023 amid Ye’s continued embrace of antisemitism.
“I love the Kanye that I’ve met over the years,” he said. “I love the artist. I think there is no artist I probably love more across any genre ever. I think he is probably the greatest artist to ever live. Even he thinks that. … He’s a genius, and the stuff with the hate sucks. What are you going to say? It sucks, no matter who you are, to hear that.”
Hill said that he doesn’t want to “punch someone while they’re down,” but highlighted that he became a talking point for Ye during the peak of his antisemitic behavior.
“In the midst of all this Jew stuff, he did [post an] Instagram picture of me in the 21 Jump Street poster,” he said. “My phone blew up. He said something along the lines of, ‘I don’t hate Jews anymore because I love Jonah Hill.’ So, I felt that he did this bizarre public thing to kind of make up, like, ‘it’s all good because I love Jonah.’ [It] just sat with me in a way that’s like… I love him still, and I hope whatever happens, he can heal or whatever, and everyone can heal from that stuff.”
Hill expressed hope that Ye could “make it right” with those he’s hurt, and stressed that he’s got no beef with him. “I just put that in there like, ‘Yo, you’re going to put the 21 Jump Street poster up there and say you don’t hate Jews anymore? That’s pretty wild. I’m gonna put a picture of you saying, like, hating Jews helps your career,’” he continued. “That’s a joke on my part. It doesn’t help your career, but it’s just me having fun with like, all right, I’m a comedian. It’s not horribly mean to Kanye, that joke.”
Hill’s interview with Lowe comes just as it was announced that Ye has been blocked from traveling to the UK, resulting in the cancellation of Wireless Festival, where he was set to headline all three nights.
“The Home Office has withdrawn Ye's ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom. As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket holders,” representatives for the festival confirmed in a statement to Complex. “As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.”
