MJF Blasts Kanye West And Kyrie Irving Over Antisemetic Beliefs

The new AEW World Champion has never shied away from his ethnic background as a Jewish man. At a pivotal point in Maxwell Jacob Friedman's feud against CM Punk earlier this year, "The Devil Himself" revealed in a promo that he has suffered from antisemitic treatment for much of his life. This segment, while ultimately being unveiled as a ploy to lower Punk's guard a week later, was one of the first times that AEW audiences have witnessed a genuinely sympathetic side of MJF.

In recent weeks, antisemitism has taken center stage in the United States. Comments from recording artist Kanye West and Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets have led to conversations about prejudices against Jewish people. MJF has been far from silent on the subject of antisemitism. Most recently, Friedman spoke about both West and Irving in an interview with Barstool's "Pardon My Take" ahead of his Full Gear 2022 title match against Jon Moxley.

"I think Kyrie and Kanye are... interesting," MJF concedes. "I think their beliefs are interesting, and by interesting, I mean f***ed up, and if anybody condones it, I think you're a f***ing loser."

MJF does say he'd love to wrestle Kanye despite his disparaging remarks, saying, "He was talking about us as if we were scaly little trolls that live under the bridge, when we're normal, functioning members of society."

MJF then mentions that the lack of discussion about antisemitism up until this point always confused him, and the recent controversies have brought it to light. "I feel like antisemitism has always been rampant, but it's never been spoken about in the news... [Kanye] brought into light the fact that there are so many people out there who violently hate Jews."