UPDATE: A rep for Ice Cube confirmed that the rapper will appear on Real Time. “Ice Cube will still appear on Bill Maher this Friday as scheduled to talk about the release of Death Certificate: 25th Anniversary edition, an album that was recorded in the wake of the Rodney King beating in 1991, which sadly, speaks to many of the same race issues that we as a society are still dealing with today,” read the statement sent to Billboard.
Despite the outcry stemming from his usage of the N-word, Bill Maher will have a chance to defend himself when he sits down with Ice Cube on Friday’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher.
According to TMZ, the West Coast icon reportedly did not cancel his Real Time appearance to promote the 25th anniversary of his album Death Certificate, which was scheduled prior to Maher’s controversial remark. Slated to appear on the show with Cube was senator Al Franken, who canceled. A rep for Cube did not immediately answer to requests for comment.
This past week, Maher has been under siege for his “house n—-r” comment during a recent interview. After his flagrant remark, Chance the Rapper demanded that Maher’s show be ousted from HBO. Killer Mike — who initially defended Maher’s choice of words — backtracked on his comments.
The Run the Jewels MC told TMZ he would have punched Maher and later smoked a joint with him. “I would have punched Bill in his stomach and said, ‘You sound stupid,’ and we would’ve smoked a joint after because that’s what you do when your white friend is 15 and he gets a little too comfortable and says it. You punch your friend in [his] stomach,” says Mike.
As for Cube, he recently dropped his new song “Good Cop, Bad Cop” from his forthcoming re-release of Death Certificate. On his new song, Cube touches on police brutality and the negative effects it has on the African-American community.
Take a listen to Cube’s new song below: