The rapper blamed his bipolar disorder for his “poor judgment and reckless behavior.” He also insisted, “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite,” he wrote. “I love Jewish people.”
On the full page ad in the Wall Street Journal, Kanye West addressed a letter titled, “To Those I’ve Hurt,” blaming his actions, including offensive statements and selling t-shirts bearing swastikas, on his bipolar-1 disorder. He said that he developed this as a result of medical oversight failing to diagnose a frontal-lobe injury after a car crash in 2002.
According to the Washington Post,Ye wrote that as a result of the disorder, he had “lost touch with reality, which prompted him to gravitate towards “the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika.”
Ye, fka Kanye West, takes out a full-page in the Wall Street Journal to apologize to the Black community, and for antisemitism:
“I lost touch with reality” pic.twitter.com/Po8s4gNz5P
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 26, 2026
Meanwhile, despite a previous apology to the Jewish community in 2023, West started selling swastika t-shirts in February 2025. This led to the commerce platform Shopify taking down his web store. In May, he also released a song called Heil Hitler, sampling a speech by Hitler and praising the Nazi leader. That song was banned in Germany due to hate speech laws, but went viral online.
Just last week, right wing influencers, including Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate, were captured on video making Nazi salutes to the song while it played in a Miami Beach nightclub.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
Ye said his brain injury wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023, writing, “That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis”, which he received in 2016.
West wrote that in early 2025, he went through a four-month manic episode, where “psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life”, caused him to experience suicidal ideation. He wrote that he hit rock bottom in recent months, and that his wife, Australian architect and performance artist Bianca Censori, encouraged him to get help.
In his full-page ad, West openly wrote about his mental health experiences. He described the mortality rate as “on par with severe heart disease, type 1 diabetes, HIV and cancer” that is associated with his condition.
“Bipolar disorder comes with its own defense system. Denial. When you’re manic, you don’t think you’re sick. You think everyone else is overreacting. You feel like you’re seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality you’re losing your grip entirely.
“The scariest thing about this disorder is how persuasive it is when it tells you: You don’t need help. It makes you blind, but convinced you have insight. You feel powerful, certain, unstoppable.”
Moreover, he confessed to treating his loved ones the worst, likely including his former wife, Kim Kardashian, and their eldest daughter, North West. West wrote that they “endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable.”
Meanwhile, the rapper apologized to the Black community and comments he has made in recent years suggesting that slavery was “a choice.” He also wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “white lives matter” and also displayed the Confederate flag, writing, “The Black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.”
Ye explained that medication, therapy, exercise and “clean living” helped him to find clarity. Moreover, it has encouraged him to channel his efforts into making “positive, meaningful art.”
“I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness,” West concluded. “I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”
Ye’s current slated album is titled Bully and its release has been delayed several times, while at one stage, it was scheduled for release on January 30.
