American rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, has issued a public apology for his previous antisemitic remarks, blaming his actions on an undiagnosed brain injury sustained more than two decades ago.
Ye published a full-page advertisement in the Monday, January 26 edition of The Wall Street Journal under the headline “To Those I’ve Hurt.” The ad, marked as paid for by Yeezy and signed by Ye, outlined his mental health struggles and detailed how his bipolar type-1 disorder contributed to his controversial behavior.
He explained that a car accident 25 years ago fractured his jaw and injured the right frontal lobe of his brain. The injury went largely unnoticed at the time, which he says eventually led to his bipolar disorder.
“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,” the statement read. “The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.”
Ye described bipolar disorder as a “debilitating disease” that distorts perception, making sufferers believe they are seeing reality clearly while losing touch with it. He admitted that during manic episodes, he said and did things he now deeply regrets.
“In early 2025, I fell into a four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid, and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life,” he wrote. “Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.”
He credited his wife, Bianca Censori, for encouraging him to seek professional help after “hitting rock bottom” and said he has since regained stability through medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living.
Regarding his antisemitic remarks, Ye described them as “out-of-body experiences” linked to his mental health struggles. He admitted that he gravitated toward destructive symbols, including selling merchandise bearing the swastika, but stressed that he is not a Nazi or antisemite and expressed love for Jewish people.
He also apologized to the Black community, writing: “To the black community – which held me down through all of the highs and lows and darkest of times. The black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.”
Ye concluded by asking for patience as he continues to recover and focus on creating positive, meaningful work in music, fashion, and design.
His antisemitic remarks first drew attention in late 2022, including a controversial tweet threatening action against Jewish people.
