Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to apologize for his past antisemitic outbursts.
The 48-year-old rapper blamed the rants on mental health issues caused by a car crash he was in over two decades ago.
“I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem,” West wrote of his manic episodes in the advertisement titled “To Those I’ve Hurt.” “I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to love someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.”
Over the years, Ye made social media statements and appeared in interviews praising Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and disparaging Jewish people. He also sold merchandise promoting these antisemitic views and came out with a single, “Heil Hitler,” in May 2025.
One of the most viral examples of this was when Ye appeared on Alex Jones’ “Infowars” podcast in 2022, during which he said, “Every human being has something of value that they bring to the table, especially Hitler.” He said the Nazis, “did good things too,” adding that, “We gotta stop dissing the Nazis all the time.”
Prior to that, Ye made several virulent antisemitic statements, including that he wanted to go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE,” saying his children could learn “financial engineering” in a Jewish school. He blamed “Jewish Zionists” for his problems, blamed his marriage with Kim Kardashian ending due to “Zionist media handlers surrounding her,” and showed a list of the Jews that he believes control the media.
The rapper went on to describe what it was like inside his head during his rants. “You don’t think you’re sick,” he wrote, adding that it feels as though “everyone else is overreacting. You feel like you’re seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality you’re losing your grip entirely. Once people label you as ‘crazy,’ you feel as if you cannot contribute anything meaningful to the world.”
He added, “The scariest thing about this disorder is how persuasive it is when it tells you: You don’t need help. It makes you blind, but convinced you have insight. You feel powerful, certain, and unstoppable.”
Ye said that during his “fractured state,” he “gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold t-shirts bearing it.”
Ye went on to say, “One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments — many of which I still cannot recall — that lead to poor judgment and reckless behavior that oftentimes feels like an out-of-body experience. I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
The rapper later said that “the black community” is “unquestionably the foundation of who I am.”
“I am sorry to have let you down,” he wrote in the one-page spread. “I love us.”
Ye concluded by thanking his wife, Bianca Censori, for sticking by his side as he hit “rock bottom” several months ago. He also pleaded with fans and the public to be patient during his recovery.
The recording artist wrote that he’s found “much-needed clarity” and is putting his “energy into positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design, and other new ideas to help the world.”
“I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness. I write today simply to ask for you patience and understanding as I find my way home,” Ye concluded.
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