Transcript
Steiny (0:01)
All right, everybody, welcome to another episode of the Full Send podcast. This is actually our very first live episode we've ever done. It's an interesting one for our first live, but I'm making history. We're making history. We have Steiny here. And I want to welcome Bassam Yousef to the Full Send Podcast. Thank you for being with us. How you doing?
Bassam Yousef (0:21)
Thank you for having me, guys.
Steiny (0:22)
Of course. Obviously, last week was controversial for us, to say the least. We had someone on the podcast. Very controversial, as I said, to say it in the, in the least form. What, what was your reaction when you saw that we had Benjamin Netanyahu on the Full?
Bassam Yousef (0:39)
Well, I, I didn't know about what's, I, I am sorry to say, like, I, because I'm not your demographic, so I didn't know who the Nel boys is, but, like, I found my DMs exploding. So. Did you see what the Nel boys did? It's like, who, who the fuck boys? And then I, I, I didn't know that you're that big. I'm sorry, again, I'm not your, your targeted demography. So I, I, I, I apologize for my ignorance. So, and then I started following what's going on and the aftermath and being in the public eye for 15 years, I understand what does it mean to be in a very tough situation and now having trying to crawl out of that situation. It's difficult, especially with the backlash, because the bigger you are, the bigger the backlash. And I mean, let's be honest, there's a lot of people, when they knew that I'm on the podcast, like, yeah, go there, do them. You know, have them. And I said, like, there's nothing to gain from just canceling people without knowing what went wrong. Because I think it is better to actually to learn from what's happening and look at the bigger picture instead of just like, you know, destroying two young people like you, because that doesn't serve anybody right. It just, it makes people happy that you guys are falling. But the bigger picture is, why did this happen and why was this. How were you used? A part of you is your responsibility and part of you not knowing. So I heard many of the justification that happened saying that, well, you know, it was a great opportunity. And I'm like, wouldn't you, like, get him on the podcast? I said, yes. If somebody told me, would you interview Netanyahu? I was like, hell, yeah, but I'll be prepared. And I think the biggest part of you, that you were not prepared two years under like the biggest genocide in our history. You guys had no idea what's going on. If somebody told me, hey, you're going to be tomorrow on the starting five of the Lakers in the NBA, it's like, that's a great opportunity, but I'm not prepared. I'm not going to make a fool out of myself. So it's not about you platforming someone or someone giving a chance for like free speech. You were used, right? And it didn't start with the podcast. It started two years ago in March 2023, when you went to Israel. Because I know, like I told you, that the Israel has increased their hasbara budget, which is their propaganda machine with $150 million. And part of that money goes to influence people in college campuses, hire influencers like you, getting them into fancy trips to Israel, giving them this filtered, layered picture that is made up. It is fake. I mean, I watched it yesterday and I was cringing because. Not because like you are showing how cool Israel is or they have nightclubs.
