David Mamet storms out of interview after tense exchange: 'You don't know what the f--- you're ta...

The playwright accused podcast host Sam Fragoso of antisemitism following dialogue about Columbia's proPalestinian demonstrations. David Mamet storms out of int

The playwright accused podcast host Sam Fragoso of antisemitism following dialogue about Columbia's pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

David Mamet storms out of interview after tense exchange: 'You don't know what the f--- you're talking about'

The playwright accused podcast host Sam Fragoso of antisemitism following dialogue about Columbia's pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

By Jessica Wang

Jessica is a staff writer at , where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, and more. She lives in California with her dog.

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Published on August 4, 2025 03:58PM EDT

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David Mamet. Credit:

Amanda Edwards/Getty

And, scene: Playwright and author David Mamet made a dramatic exit from a podcast interview following a tense exchange about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Columbia University's pro-Palestine demonstrations.

In an expansive conversation for *Talk Easy* about his works, Mamet is questioned by host Sam Fragoso about his conservative rightward political shift and rejection of liberalism. The conversation turned contentious at the topic of Donald Trump supporters storming the Capitol in an attempted coup following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, ending with Mamet accusing Fragoso of antisemitism before storming out of the room.

"Do you think that was an appropriate response for them to be jailed and to be prosecuted as they have been?" Fragoso asked of the insurrectionists.**

"I don't know," Mamet said. "Look there's an old saying that goes, 'Where there's law, there's injustice.' I think that Donald Trump said to those people, 'Go protest peacefully and patriotically,' and some of them were doing that. Some of them were rioting. "

"How are you able to offer such a generous reading to what happened on Jan. 6?" Fragoso asked. "You're saying some people are there peacefully, some may not have been so peaceful, some people were just walking around. Your capacity for empathy and generosity seems limited to Jan. 6. It doesn't seem to extend to the protest and the aftermath of [the police killing of] George Floyd."**

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A defensive Mamet replied, "Let's stop for a second and take an overview. Why do you have me here today? It seems to me that what we're talking about here is a little bit more toward an inquisition rather than a dialogue."**

Sam Fragoso speaks with David Mamet for a contentious episode of 'Talk Easy'.

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso/YouTube

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Fragoso, who remained calm and collected throughout the exchange, clarified that he was "genuinely curious" and did not intend for the dialogue to feel like an inquisition. "You offered understanding that there were different people doing different things on that day," he said. "That is a fairly more generous reading than you gave, especially [with] the Columbia protestors and all that."

A tense back and forth occurred thereafter, after Mamet remarked, "I'm talking to a guy that never got punched in the face." The playwright later added of the Columbia protests, "I was born at a time— like 20 months prior to my birth, they were throwing Jewish kids into the ovens. So American Jews of the midcentury, our main tactic of accommodation was to keep our head down and work harder and try to be liked. So there are people—" After stopping mid-sentence, Mamet said, "You know what, I'm not going to debate the Columbia riots with you. Ask me something else."

Fragoso attempted to veer the conversation back to Mamet's works, but the author would return to the topic and accuse the host of "antisemitism": "People in hijabs and people in keffiyehs standing on tables and screaming at Jewish children, storming into classrooms and breaking windows means 'kill all the Jews,'" Mamet said. "For you to say, on the other hand, there may be some people out there that were involved in peaceful protest is loathsome piece of antisemitism. You don't know what the f--- you're talking about. Thank you for talking to me."

Watch the moment unfold at the one-hour mark of the interview above.

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