Kanye West apologizes for antisemitic comments: 'I lost touch with reality'

Rapper Kanye West has apologized for making antisemitic comments in recent years, attributing his remarks to fallout from mental illness stemming from a car accident that happened decades ago. 

West, who gained fame as a rapper and had begun recording Christian music in recent years, took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on Monday addressed to “those I’ve hurt.”

"Twenty-five years ago, I was in a car accident that broke my jaw and caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain," West wrote.

“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,” he added. “Comprehensive scans were not done, neurological exams were limited, and the possibility of a frontal-lobe injury was never raised. 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.”

West, 48, claims that he "lost touch with reality."

“Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem," he wrote. "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 have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from myself.” 

West directly addressed his antisemitic actions and statements against Jewish people that have made headlines in recent years.

“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it," West admitted. "One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments — many of which I still cannot recall — that led 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,” he stressed. 

West delivered a message to the black community, which he described as “the foundation of who I am."

“I am so sorry to have let you down," he wrote. "I love us.” 

West credited his wife for encouraging him to “get help” after he hit “rock bottom,” detailing how he “found comfort in Reddit of all places” because he discovered that he was “not alone.” 

“As I find my new baseline and new center through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living, I have newfound, much-needed clarity. I am pouring my 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 your patience and understanding as I find my way home,” he concluded. 

After winning multiple Billboard Awards for Christian music in 2020 and 2022, West first made headlines in October 2022 after he published an X post, which he later deleted, expressing a desire to “go death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”

West also alleged that an “underground Jewish mafia” was targeting him. 

In a 2022 interview on InfoWars, West declared, “I see good things about Hitler” and insisted that “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.” 

West also shared his disdain for “Jewish media,” adding “I love everyone, and the Jewish people are not going to tell me ‘You can love us and you can love what we are doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we are pushing with the pornography,’ but this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good,’ and I am done with that.” 

“I am done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler,” he said. 

Backlash to West's remarks led to the closure of the Christian school he founded. The artist allegedly lost $2 billion due to the comments. In recent years, West has entertained the idea of creating a pornography site and faced criticism for claiming to be “the new Jesus.” 

The antisemitism watchdog organization Anti-Defamation League said West's "apology to the Jewish people" is "long overdue."

However, the organization told USA Today that his apology "doesn't automatically undo his long history of antisemitism — the antisemitic 'Heil Hitler' song he created, the hundreds of tweets, the swastikas and myriad Holocaust references — and all of the feelings of hurt and betrayal it caused."