Ye Bought a Full-Page Ad in 'The Wall Street Journal' to Apologize for Antisemitic Remarks

The artist Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has a long history of being controversial. Ye storming the stage when Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video at the MTV Music Awards over Beyoncé seems tame compared to his behavior in recent years.

In early 2025, Ye was under fire for antisemitic remarks he posted to X (formerly Twitter). His website was also selling T-shirts with swastikas on them during the time that his ad aired during the 2025 Super Bowl. Now, Ye has come forward to publicly apologize for his actions and explain how his mental health issues fogged his judgment. He bought a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to apologize.

Ye's apology letter is addressed "To those [he's] hurt."

"I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people," he said. Ye had previously said he was a Nazi and praised Adolf Hitler on X, per NBC News. The ADL documented at least 30 incidents of antisemitic messages that directly referenced Ye, highlighting how influential his words can be.

In his apology letter, Ye wrote, "I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change."

He said that the frontal lobe of his brain was injured in a car accident 25 years ago, according to NBC News. He was finally diagnosed in 2023, but he said that the medical oversight "caused serious damage to [his] mental health and led to [his] bipolar type-1 diagnosis."

Ye explained, "At the time [of the car accident], the focus was on the visible damage — the fracture, the swelling, and the immediate physical trauma."

"The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed," Ye said. He claimed that the disorder caused him to detach from himself, lose touch with reality, and deny that anything was wrong.

He said that he "hit rock bottom" a few months ago, and his wife, Bianca Censori, encouraged him to get help. He is now taking medication, going to therapy, exercising, and practicing "clean living" to keep himself on track.

"The scariest thing about this disorder [bipolar type-1] 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," he wrote.

Ye continued: "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."

Ye said that in the "fractured state" due to his mental health issues, he "gravitated towards the most destructive symbol [he] could find, the swastika, and even sold t-shirts bearing it." Ye wrote that he deeply regrets and is mortified by his previous actions, and wants to make "meaningful change" by getting treatment and holding himself accountable.