Kanye West apologises for antisemitic remarks, cites brain injury

​American rapper and songwriter Kanye West, formerly known as Ye, has issued a public apology for some of his antisemitic remarks on Jewish and Black people in recent years citing his bipolar disorder and brain injury.

In February 2025, Kanye promoted a T-shirt featuring a swastika, which angered members of the Jewish community.  In May of the same year, he released a track titled ‘Heil Hitler’, which included a speech by Hitler and praised the Nazi leader.  Furthermore, in interviews, he referred to slavery as a ‘choice’ for Black people while promoting the “White Lives Matter” movement.

‘To those who I have hurt’ letter title

​Kanye issued a public apology through a paid advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, referencing a 2002 car accident that left him with a shattered jaw and, he says, injuries to the right frontal lobe of his brain that were not diagnosed until 2023. He writes that this led to his bipolar type 1 diagnosis. The behavior resulting from this brain injury has been very bad. He further writes that the antisemitic and offensive remarks occurred when he lost touch with reality and insists those statements do not reflect how he truly feels.

Apology to Jewish community

Despite an earlier apology to the Jewish community in 2023, West apologised again to the Jewish community for selling swastika T-shirts. He writes, “I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika.”

​He further writes that he is very regretful and ashamed, but acknowledges that the brain injury is no excuse. He shouldn’t have said those things and loves Jewish people.

West writes in the letter, “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.”

​Apology to black people

​West also apologised to the Black community for his remarks about Black people, which included claiming black  slavery was “a choice”, wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt, and appropriating the Confederate flag. He writes, “The Black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.”​

At the end, West says he is now following “an effective regimen of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living” as he works back towards a healthy baseline.

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