American rapper Kanye West, who now performs under the stage name Ye, has published an open letter apologizing for his anti-Semitic and racist statements. He was previously blocked on X several times and was also banned from entering Australia due to similar statements.
The text, titled “To Those I Offended,” appeared in a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal, paid for by his Yeezy brand, according to The Guardian.
In the letter, West apologized to the Jewish community, the black community, and his own family, stating, ” I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love the Jewish people.”
The artist admitted that his controversial actions and statements were caused by a manic episode related to bipolar I disorder , which he was diagnosed with in 2016.
The rapper explained that in early 2025 he experienced a four-month psychotic episode during which he “lost touch with reality” and resorted to “the most destructive symbol I could find – swastikas.” In this state, he made anti-Semitic statements, denied the Holocaust, and released swastika T-shirts and the song “Heil Hitler,” which was later banned in Germany due to hate speech laws.
In the letter, West also linked his mental illness to a 2002 car accident that left him with serious facial injuries. The rapper said doctors failed to detect damage to his frontal lobe, which he believes led to his bipolar disorder.
“The scariest thing about this disorder is how convincingly it makes you think you don't need help,” West wrote, noting that he is currently undergoing treatment, taking medication, and trying to “direct his energy toward positive and meaningful art.”
He also addressed the black community, apologizing for his previous statements, including claiming that “slavery was a choice” and appearing in public wearing a White Lives Matter T-shirt.
At the end of the letter, West noted that he was not asking for sympathy, but rather for forgiveness : “Today, I ask only for patience and understanding as I try to find my way home.”
West is currently preparing for the release of his new album Bully, which has been postponed several times and is expected to be released in late January.
Who is Kanye West and what's wrong with him?
Kanye West is an American rapper, music producer, composer, and designer.
West is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with 160 million records sold, and the 12th most awarded Grammy Award artist, with 24 awards.
Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015, and Rolling Stone included six of West's albums—The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation (2007), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and Yeezus (2013)—in its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” and named the musician one of the “100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time”.
Kanye West's career has been in tatters since 2022 due to a series of anti-Semitic statements and open Nazi propaganda. The musician lost key sponsors and business partners after he began publicly calling himself a Nazi, denying the Holocaust, and praising Adolf Hitler.
In particular, he posted direct slogans like “I love Hitler” on social media and tried to monetize radical ideology by selling swastika T-shirts on his own website.
West's public isolation intensified after his interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, during which the rapper openly declared his sympathies for Hitler and Vladimir Putin. U X blocked his accounts for spreading hate speech, including for posting a collage that combined the Star of David with a swastika.
On May 8, 2025, the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, West released a song called Heil Hitler. The finale of the song uses a fragment of Hitler's 1935 speech calling for support for his regime. Due to its direct propaganda of extremism and use of Nazi symbols, the song was officially banned in Germany at the legislative level.