Ye, the hip-hop artist formerly known as Kanye West, publicly apologized Monday for his history of “reckless” antisemitic comments, attributing his behavior to an undiagnosed brain injury and mental health issues.
In a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal titled “To Those I’ve Hurt,” he said in part: “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
In recent years, Ye has made various antisemitic and racist statements. In a series of posts on X in February, for example, Ye declared he was a Nazi and praised Adolf Hitler.
In the advertisement published Monday, he said: “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change.”
Ye wrote that the right frontal lobe of his brain was injured in a car accident 25 years ago. “It wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023,” he said. The “medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.”
“I lost touch with reality,” he wrote, adding that he “became detached from my true self.”
“In that fractured state, I gravitated towards the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold t-shirts bearing it,” Ye wrote, referring to the symbol appropriated by Nazi Germany and modern white supremacists.
Ye wrote that he “fell into a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior” in early 2025. He then hit “rock bottom a few months ago” and, at the encouragement of his wife, Bianca Censori, sought out “help.”
He said he found a “new baseline and new center through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise and clean living.”
“I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness,” said Ye, who is set to release a new album Friday. “I write today to simply ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”
In early 2023, the Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish advocacy group, said it had documented at least 30 antisemitic incidents nationwide that “directly reference Ye.”
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been suspended after posting an image of a swastika inside the Star of David.
The ADL did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Ye’s public apology.
The outcry over Ye’s public statements led various corporations and entertainment firms to cut ties with him, including the sportswear brand Adidas, which once sold his namesake Yeezy sneakers.
Ye has previously apologized for his antisemitic comments. In a December 2023 Instagram post written in Hebrew, Ye wrote in part: “It was not my intention to offend or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.”
He then doubled down in the February tirade on X, saying in part: “I’m never apologizing for my Jewish comments.”
