Kanye West, now known as Ye, has had a tumultuous few years. Ever since his divorce from socialite Kim Kardashian, the rapper and polymath went from one of the most respected figures in the music industry to a pariah.
In 2024, notably, West had what can only be qualified as a public meltdown, often going on unprompted antisemitic tirades on social media, culminating with his selling of swastika-logoed shirts on his website, and releasing a song titled 'Heil Hitler'.
This morning, West took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal to issue an apology ''to those I've hurt''.
In it, the artist explains that he was only properly diagnosed with type-1 bipolar disorder in 2023, which he says is the result of the infamous car accident he suffered in the early 2000s, which forever affected his career.
''At the time, the focus was on the visible damage—the fracture, the swelling, and the immediate physical trauma. The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed,'' says Ye in the ad. ''It wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.''
He goes on to explain that in ''early 2025, I fell into a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life''. He apologizes to those he's hurt, particularly the Jewish and Black communities. ''I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people'', claims West. ''The black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.''
Last year, Ye met with a prominent New York City rabbi to apologize to the Jewish community. Rabbi Pinto called the artist ''a very good man''. He was also forbidden from performing in Brazil over fears he might play his antisemitic song.
Read Kanye's full apology below.
Swiftiephylus amator and Swiftiephylus taylorae, two of the bugs named after Taylor Swift because of their blonde and red coloring. Courtesy of Brad Balukjian, Ph.D.