Key Takeaways

• Apology Context: Kanye West issued a lengthy apology for his past antisemitic remarks that affected his career and reputation.
• Mental Health Insight: He attributes some of his behavior to bipolar disorder stemming from a brain injury.
• Commitment to Change: Kanye expresses a desire for accountability and meaningful change in his life.
• Community Acknowledgment: He apologizes to both the Jewish and Black communities for his actions and their impact.

Kanye West has issued his lengthiest apology yet for his past antisemitic comments that derailed his lucrative partnership with adidas, decimated his billion-dollar net worth and damaged his legacy as a socially-outspoken hip-hop icon.

In a full-length ad titled “To Those I’ve Hurt” published in The Wall Street Journal on Monday (January 26), Ye penned a candid and heartfelt letter seeking forgiveness from fans and clarifying that he is not a Nazi.

The 48-year-old blamed his offensive behavior on his 2002 car accident, saying his actions were a result of brain injuries suffered during the crash that developed into bipolar disorder, which remained undiagnosed for decades.

“I lost touch with reality,” he wrote. “Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret … Looking back, I became detached from my true self.”

Kanye then detailed the realities of being bipolar, saying he cannot remember some “disconnected moments” during his “fractured state” and “gravitated towards the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika,” which he even printed on T-shirts and sold them through his Yeezy website.

Turning his attention to the Jewish community, Ye wrote: “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and I 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.”

The G.O.O.D. Music founder also apologized to the Black community, who he referred to as “the foundation of who I am” and a group that has “held me down through all of the highs and lows and the darkest of times.”

“I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us,” he wrote.

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

Further detailing his mental health struggles, Ye went on to reveal that in early 2025 he fell into a “four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life,” leaving him feeling suicidal.

After hitting “rock bottom,” his wife, Bianca Censori, encouraged him to seek help.

“As I find my new baseline and new center through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living, I have newfound, much-needed clarity,” he said. “I am pouring my energy into positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design, and other new ideas to help the world.”

However, Kanye dismissed doctors’ previous diagnoses that his reckless behavior were merely “symptoms of autism.” He also credited Reddit forums as a source of “comfort,” helping him to realize “I was not alone.”

Yeezy signed off by writing: “I’m not asking for sympathy or a free pass; though I aspire to earn your forgiveness. I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”

The letter comes more than three years after Kanye West began stoking controversy with a flurry of racially offensive comments and moves aimed mainly at Jewish people.

His antisemitism reached fever pitch during a December 2022 appearance on Alex Jones’ Infowars show where he praised Adolf Hitler and said he saw “good things” about the notorious ex-Nazi leader.

Despite the widespread backlash, which resulted in adidas terminating their hugely successful Yeezy sneaker and clothing deal, Ye did not let up and controversially released the song “Heil Hitler” in May 2025.

In a surprising U-turn later that month, the rap legend said on X (formerly Twitter) that he was “done with antisemitism” and “love all people.”

The full letter can be read below.

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. At the time, 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.

Comprehensive scans were not done; neurological exams were limited; and the possibility of a frontal-lobe injury was never raised. It wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.

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.

Once people label you as “crazy,” you feel as if you cannot contribute anything meaningful to the world. It’s easy for people to joke and laugh it off when in fact this is a very serious debilitating disease you can die from. According to the World Health Organization and Cambridge University, people with bipolar disorder have a life expectancy that is shortened by ten to fifteen years on average and a 2x-3x higher all-cause mortality rate than the general population. This is on par with severe heart disease, type 1 diabetes, HIV, and cancer – all lethal if left untreated.

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.

I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most I treated the worst. You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and exhaustion trying to have someone who was at times unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.

In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find—the swastika—and even sold T-shirts bearing it. 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. I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state; I 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.

To the Black community—which held me down through all of the highs and lows—the Black community is unquestionably the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.
In early 2025, I fell into a four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life. As the situation became increasingly unsustainable there were times when I didn’t want to be here anymore.

Having bipolar disorder is notable for its constant mental illness state. When you go into a manic episode you are ill at that point; when you are not in an episode you are completely ‘normal’. And that’s when the wreckage from the illness hits hardest. Hitting rock bottom a few months ago my wife encouraged me to finally get help.

I have found comfort in Reddit forums of all places. Different people speak of being in manic or depressive episodes of similar nature. I read their stories and realized that I was not alone. It’s not just me who ruins their entire life once a year despite taking meds every day while being told by so-called best doctors in the world that I am not bipolar but merely experiencing “symptoms of autism.”

My words as a leader in my community have global impact and influence; in my mania I lost complete sight of that.

As I find my new baseline through an effective regime of medication therapy exercise clean living; I have newfound clarity; pouring my energy into positive meaningful art: music clothing design other new ideas to help the world.

I’m not asking for sympathy or a free pass; though I aspire to earn your forgiveness; writing today simply asking for your patience understanding as finding way home.

With love,
Ye.