Ye, the controversial hip-hop personality formerly known as Kanye West, apologised for his past antisemitic comments, attributing his previous offensive public behaviour to bipolar disorder.
"I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change,” Ye wrote in a full-page advertisement that ran in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. "It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
In the ad, Ye addressed his embrace of Hitler, the use of the swastika and a history of antisemitic rants that cast him as a pariah and ended a licensing deal with Adidas AG. The sneaker maker cut ties with Ye and his shoe brand Yeezy after an antisemitic outburst in 2022 led to a backlash from consumers and celebrities and calls to boycott Adidas products.
Gap Inc. and Balenciaga SA also terminated partnerships, and Ye was banned from several social media platforms.
Addressing "those I’ve hurt,” Ye said he was in a severe car accident 25 years ago and damage to his brain 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 wrote in the lengthy ad.
Ye has swung between embracing and rejecting the diagnosis in recent years. He said he has been getting treatment after suffering in 2025 a four-month long "manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
Last February, Ye ran an ad during the Super Bowl that pointed viewers to his website Yeezy.com, where the single item for sale was a white shirt with a black Nazi swastika in its center, under the product name HH-01.
At the same time, the rapper published a barrage of posts on X claiming he had "dominion” over his wife Bianca Censori and praising Hitler. That year he also released a song titled Heil Hitler.
Ye said he hit "rock bottom” a few months ago and sought help with encouragement from Censori.
Ye’s apology comes ahead of the debut of his album Bully, which is set for release on Jan 30, according to Spotify. – Bloomberg
