American rapper and producer Kanye West, also known by his stage name Ye, apologized for his anti-Semitic comments after years of criticism. He paid for a full-page ad in the American Wall Street Journal, in which he explained the behavior as psychological problems. The controversial artist, who had , for years faced waves of resentment in response to his comments about minorities.
“I’ve lost touch with reality,” Kanye writes in the ad. “The longer I ignored this problem, the worse it got. I said and did things that I deeply regret. I treated the people I love the most the worst.”
He attributed his behavior to undiagnosed brain damage and untreated bipolar disorder. In a letter he called “The ones I hurt“, he explains that he sustained the injury from a car accident 25 years ago. Investigations focused on injuries that were visible and, according to the rapper, no one thought to address possible damage to the frontal lobe of the brain. He received the correct diagnosis only in 2023.
“This medical neglect caused serious damage to my mental health and led to his diagnosis of bipolar 1 disorder,” which he was given in 2016.
“Bipolar disorder has its own defense mechanism. Denial. When you’re in a manic phase, you don’t think you’re sick. You think everyone else is exaggerating. You feel like you see the world more clearly than ever before, when in fact you’re losing control of yourself,” he wrote.
I am not a Nazi, he stated
The rapper infamously became famous in February of last year with a series of hateful posts on the X social network. For example, West claimed that the music business is controlled by Jewish agents and public opinion is manipulated by Jewish media. “I AM A NAZI”, he wrote in one post. In the second, he emphasized that he loves Hitler, in the third he announced that he can say what he wants. He later apologized for his statements when he published a post with the words “I’m done with anti-Semitism”.
He also received strong criticism for his site, which featured $20 swastika T-shirts. Kanye promoted the site with a short spot during the Super Bowl championship. The platform on which he sold the T-shirts later canceled his page.
In the letter, West explains that he gravitated towards “the most destructive symbol I could find – the swastika” when he was out of touch with reality. He describes this period as “disjointed moments—many of which I still cannot recall—that led to poor judgment and reckless behavior that often feels like an out-of-body experience.”
“I regret and am deeply ashamed of my actions in that condition and I am determined to take responsibility, undergo treatment and make meaningful change. But that does not excuse what I did. I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love the Jewish people,” he adds. He also apologized to the black community. In recent years, he has stated that slavery was a “choice” or wore a T-shirt with the inscription “white lives matter”.
He attributes the behavior from last year to a four-month manic episode of “psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that ruined my life.” He also writes that there were moments when he didn’t want to be here anymore because he hit rock bottom.
He does not ask for forgiveness, but for understanding
Kanye goes on to say that he found solace in discussion forums on the social network Reddit, where stories of people suffering from the same disorders made him realize he was not alone. But at the same time, he adds that he found a new direction with the help of treatment, therapy, exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
“I put my energy into positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design and other new ideas that help the world,” she adds. According to music platform Spotify, his album is due out on Friday. At the end, the rapper writes that he is not asking for forgiveness without any consequences, but on the contrary, he is writing an apology in order to ask for patience and understanding on the way “home”.
The Anti-Defamation League, which deals with anti-Semitism, issued a statement calling his apology overdue and pointing to his previous anti-Semitic remarks.
“Yeh’s apology to the Jewish people is long overdue and will not automatically undo his long history of anti-Semitism — the anti-Semitic song he created, hundreds of tweets, swastikas and countless Holocaust references — and all the feelings of hurt and betrayal it caused,” an ADL spokesman said in a statement to Reuters.
“The sincerest apology would be for him not to engage in anti-Semitic activities in the future. We wish him well in his recovery,” the statement added.
The rapper’s apology comes as the world commemorates the Holocaust Memorial.
