On Monday (October 17),Β N.O.R.E.Β apologized for his role in the latestΒ Drink ChampsΒ episode that featuredΒ Kanye WestΒ making offensive and factless comments unchecked aboutΒ George Floydβs death. During the interview, Ye made incorrect remarks about the 46-year-oldβs cause of death. Civil rights attorneyΒ Lee Merritt, after witnessing the comments, announced that Floydβs family is considering a lawsuit against Ye over βfalse statements about the manner of his death.β
Floyd died as a result of former Minneapolis police officerΒ Derek ChauvinΒ kneeling on his neck for nearly 10 minutes. The rapper, based on nothing, asserted that Floyd was under the influence of fentanyl. During a call-in appearance on Mondayβs episode ofΒ The Breakfast Club, N.O.R.E. apologized to Floydβs family, noting thatΒ Drink ChampsΒ will employ editing in the future. βI just wanna be honest, I support freedom of speech,β theΒ Drink ChampsΒ co-host said. βI support anybody, you know, not being censored. 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 gotta realize, it was the first five minutes of the show. When he walked in, he told my producer, he said that if heβll stop filming, heβll walk out.β Additionally, N.O.R.E. said he didnβt want to have a βBirdman momentβ and claimed he βcheckedβ Ye on his comments later in the episode, although he conceded he was βalready inebriatedβ by that point and that it was too little too late. βI apologize to the George Floyd family,β he said. βI apologize to anybody that was hurt by Kanye Westβs comments.β