Jonah Hill included a Kanye “Ye” West joke in his new movie Outcome and it all stemmed from a 2023 Instagram post from the rapper, where he said the actor’s performance in 21 Jump Street made him “like Jewish people again.”
The actor, who is Jewish, opened up about the controversial rapper’s “bizarre public thing” during a recent appearance on Apple Music’s The Zane Lowe Show. West has faced widespread backlash over the last few years for making several antisemitic remarks and releasing a song called “Heil Hitler.”
“I felt that he did this bizarre public thing to kind of make up, like, ‘It’s all good cause I love Jonah,’” Hill said of the rapper’s 2023 social media post. “[It] just sat with me in a way that it’s, like, all good. I love him still, and I hope whatever happens, he can heal or whatever, and everyone can heal from all that stuff. … I hope he can heal and make it right with the people he needs to make it right [with] in the Jewish community. Me and him got no beef.”
Earlier during his chat with Lowe, The Wolf of Wall Street actor revealed that the joke in Outcome was his character’s assistant says, “We did the research and it turns out hating Jews doesn’t hurt your career, it helps it,” and then it cuts to a photo of West.
“The reason why I put that in there was not just to take a shot at Kanye. I love the Kanye that I’ve met over the years. 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 ever to live. And he thinks that,” Hill explained with a laugh. “He’s a genius, and the stuff with the hate stuff sucks. What are you going to say? It sucks, no matter who you are, to hear that. Now, do I know what’s going on? No. Am I going to punch someone while they’re down? No, of course not.”
He added, “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 that hating Jews helps your career. Obviously, that’s a joke on my part. It doesn’t help your career, but it’s me just having fun. I’m a comedian.”
Elsewhere, Hill also said during a separate interview with SiriusXM’s Julia Cunningham that the joke is also meant to point out how “culture’s fucking weird and it always has been and it always will be. And one of the funny things about it is like you can go on a Jew-hating tour and then sell out [SoFi Stadium].”
West recently sold out two nights at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for concerts supporting his album Bully. He’s also set to headline the U.K. Wireless Festival, despite several companies pulling their sponsorships over his booking. The festival’s managing director has since defended West as a headliner, telling people to “offer some forgiveness and hope to him.”
In addition to his antisemitic rhetoric and “Heil Hitler” song, the “Heartless” artist also used a Super Bowl ad in 2025 to direct viewers to his Yeezy website that had swastika-emblazoned t-shirts. West has since apologized for his antisemitic statements in an ad in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, but hasn’t addressed the controversy any further.
