During a recent appearance on The Jason Lee Show, N.O.R.E. looked back at the deleted 2022 Drink Champs interview with Ye and said he now believes much more of it should have been edited before release. He explained that the episode was filmed late on a Saturday and published the next morning, which left very little time to fully process everything that had been said.
He also said he did not fully understand the weight of Ye’s remarks about George Floyd and Jewish communities in the moment. Once the episode was out, the reaction was immediate, and N.O.R.E. said Drink Champs was blamed for giving those comments a public stage.
Looking back, he described the episode as the only interview the show ever removed. He said the decision at the time was influenced by a belief in creative freedom and letting artists speak openly, but hindsight gave him a different view. N.O.R.E. made clear that he still values honest conversation, but now sees a sharper line between giving someone room to talk and taking responsibility for what reaches the audience.