Kanye West’s recent antisemitic comments don’t surprise podcaster Van Lathan, who said on his Higher Learning show Tuesday that he heard the rap mogul profess his love for Hitler and the Nazis in comments that were edited out of his notorious 2018 rant on TMZ in which he also declared that slavery was “a choice.”

Lathan is the TMZ staffer who famously called out West for his slavery comment. Lathan shared his experience with West as the rapper and fashion designer has been dominating the news cycle for his offensive, headline-grabbing behavior during Paris Fashion Week. West capped a turbulent week with his antisemitic tweet on Saturday when he threatened to go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE.”

Back in 2018, West allegedly said he “loved Hitler and the Nazis,” Lathan said. The rapper, also known as Ye, participated in a 2018 TMZ interview to discuss his controversial support for President Donald Trump, his reasons for wearing a MAGA hat and his right to be a free thinker.

“When you hear about slavery for 400 years — for 400 years?” West said in a rant that became increasingly unhinged. “That sounds like a choice. Like, you was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all? It’s like we’re mentally in prison.”

Lathan, who worked for TMZ until 2019 and now hosts the Higher Learning podcast for The Ringer network, said West’s additional remarks to the gossip site foreshadowed his recent antisemitic statements on social media.

To rebuke West’s slavery comment and to highlight his ignorance of history, Lathan said he brought up the Holocaust. In response, West allegedly said he “loved Hitler and the Nazis.”

Because of that declaration, Lathan said it didn’t shock him to hear that West harbors antisemitic views.

“I’ve already heard him say that stuff before,” Lathan said on his podcast. “I mean, I was taken aback because that type of antisemitic talk is disgusting. But … I knew that that was in him because when came to TMZ, he said that stuff and they took it out of the interview.

“If you look at what I said at TMZ, it goes from me saying like, ‘Hey Kanye, there’s real-life, real-world implication to everything that you just said there.’ What I say after that — if I can remember, it’s been a long time — was, ’12 million people actually died because of Nazism and Hitler and all of that stuff,’ and then I move on to talk about what he said about slavery.”

Lathan believes the reason TMZ removed the Hitler and Nazi comments is because “it wouldn’t have made sense unless they kept in Kanye saying he loved Hitler and the Nazis … He said something like, ‘I love Hitler, I love Nazis.’ Something to that effect.”

A Jewish staff member at TMZ challenged West over his Hitler and Nazi comments, Lathan added. “One of the producers at TMZ actually stood up and said, ‘I’m Jewish and that is offensive to me what you just said,’” he recalled.

Lathan’s claim comes after West’s Instagram and Twitter accounts were restricted on Sunday because of his antisemitic posts.

In a text conversation with Diddy that West shared on Instagram, he said that Diddy was being turned against him by Jewish people after the mogul criticized the “White Lives Matter” shirt he wore on the catwalk during his Yeezy fashion show.

West’s “death con 3” tweet, an apparent referred to Defcon, the U.S. military’s defense readiness system, was later deleted, but the rapper also said: “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also[.] You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”

West reportedly made more antisemitic comments during an appearance on LeBron James’ YouTube series The Shop earlier this week, resulting in the episode being pulled, HipHopDX.com reported. 

“Kanye was booked weeks ago and, after talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments,” The Shop CEO Maverick Carter said in a statement. “Unfortunately, he used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.”

“We have made the decision not to air this episode or any of Kanye’s remarks,” Carter said. “While The Shop embraces thoughtful discourse and differing opinions, we have zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind and will never allow our channels to be used to promote hate.”