Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has issued a sweeping public apology for years of antisemitic rhetoric and erratic conduct, attributing much of his behavior to untreated bipolar disorder and long-ignored neurological trauma.
According to One America News, the apology appeared as a full-page open letter in Mondays print edition of The Wall Street Journal under the headline To Those Ive Hurt, marking the latest in a series of attempts by the rapper and fashion mogul to repair the damage from his incendiary remarks. West had previously offered an apology to the Jewish community in 2023, only to undercut it during what his representatives later described as a manic episode in early 2025, when he escalated his provocations with swastika-themed merchandise, a Heil Hitler song, and open praise of Nazi ideology.
The letter follows a reported private meeting in November 2025 with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto in New York, where West is said to have expressed profound remorse for his past comments about Jewish people. That behind-closed-doors contrition has now been translated into a highly public act of repentance, one that attempts to balance personal responsibility with an appeal to medical explanations for his conduct.
In the Wall Street Journal advertisement, West apologizes for his antisemitic remarks and actions while explicitly linking much of that behavior to bipolar type-1 disorder, untreated manic episodes, and what he describes as an undiagnosed frontal-lobe brain injury stemming from his 2002 car crash. Ye maintains that the accident contributed to or exacerbated his condition, suggesting that the neurological damage went unrecognized for decades and fueled his mental health decline.
West revisited the now-famous 2002 collision that broke my jaw and caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain, adding that the interior neurological damage went unnoticed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis, he added, framing his recent diagnosis as the belated key to understanding his increasingly unhinged public episodes.
He described how bipolar mania distorted his perception of reality and his own judgment, propelling him into states where You think everyone else is overreacting. You feel like youre seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality youre losing your grip entirely. That sense of false clarity, he suggested, helped drive him toward ever more provocative and destructive statements, even as friends, family, and business partners recoiled.
The letter also confronts several of the most notorious controversies that shattered his reputation and cost him lucrative partnerships. In 2022, Adidas severed ties with his Yeezy brand after West threatened to go death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE, a social media outburst that triggered widespread condemnation and underscored the risks corporations face when they align themselves with volatile celebrity figures.
More recently, in 2025, West was sued by a former Yeezy employee who alleged that he openly compared himself to Hitler, threatened her because she is Jewish, and fired her shortly after she reported his behavior. West was ordered to pay more than $76,000 in her legal fees, though the underlying case has been placed on hold for reasons that have not been publicly disclosed, leaving lingering questions about accountability and potential future litigation.
That same year, West publicly defended Sean Diddy Combs after Combs conviction on prostitution-related charges, a stance that further alienated many observers already troubled by Wests moral and political drift. He then posted a slur-laden rant on X praising Hitler, prompting his dismissal by talent agent Daniel McCartney of 33&West and reinforcing the perception that he had embraced a nihilistic, shock-driven approach to public life.
In his open letter, West wrote about being branded crazy and feeling unable to contribute anything meaningful to the world, citing research from the World Health Organization and Cambridge University on the severe toll bipolar disorder can take, including reduced life expectancy. He admitted that the illness fed delusions of grandeur, making him believe he was powerful and unstoppable, which in turn delayed his willingness to seek treatment and accept limits.
I lost touch with reality, wrote West. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. 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. The language suggests a man attempting to speak not only to the public but to those closest to him, whose private suffering has largely remained off-camera.
He further explained that his fractured state drew him toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, acknowledging that his decision to sell swastika merchandise reflected both poor judgement and reckless behavior. 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, West continued, insisting that his flirtation with Nazi imagery was a symptom of illness rather than a reflection of his core beliefs.
Turning to the Black community, which he called the foundation of who I am, West apologized for betraying their trust and tarnishing the legacy of a culture that helped elevate him to global prominence. I love us, he added, while describing a four-month manic episode in 2025 marked by psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life, during which he admits he felt suicidal at times.
West credited his current wife, 31-year-old Bianca Censori, with pushing him toward professional help after he hit rock bottom, suggesting that her intervention played a decisive role in his decision to confront his illness. He also said he found unexpected comfort in anonymous Reddit forums where people shared their experiences with bipolar disorder, an online community that helped him recognize patterns in his own behavior and accept that he needed sustained treatment.
Now on what he calls an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living, West says he has regained much-needed clarity and is redirecting his energy toward positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design, and other new ideas to help the world. Im not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness. I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home, the letter concludes, framing his apology as the beginning of a long process rather than an instant absolution.
For many Americans, particularly those on the right who have watched the entertainment industry excuse or amplify radical rhetoric when it suits progressive narratives, Wests saga underscores the importance of personal responsibility alongside compassion for mental illness. Whether his latest apology marks a genuine moral course correction or simply another chapter in a long-running spectacle will depend less on corporate endorsements and media spin than on whether he now lives up to his own stated commitment to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change.
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