Kanye West issues full-page ad apologizing for anti-Semitic behavior and denying he is a Nazi | Kanye West

Kanye West took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for his anti-Semitic behavior. “I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite,” he wrote. “I love the Jewish people.”

In a letter titled “To Those I Have Hurt,” he attributed his inflammatory actions, including making highly offensive statements and selling T-shirts bearing swastikas, to bipolar-1 disorder, which he said developed as a result of medical oversight failing to diagnose a frontal lobe injury he suffered in a 2002 car accident.

West — now known as Yee — said that as a result of the disorder, he “lost touch with reality,” which led him to gravitate toward “the most destructive symbol I could find, which was the swastika.”

Despite previously apologizing to the Jewish community in 2023, in February 2025, West began selling swastika T-shirts, prompting commerce platform Shopify to remove his online store. In May, he released a song called “Heil Hitler,” which sampled Hitler’s speech and praised the Nazi leader. The song was banned in Germany due to laws against hate speech and extremism, but it quickly spread online. Last week, right-wing influencers, including Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes, were filmed giving the song a Nazi salute as it played it at a Miami Beach nightclub. The West also engaged in Holocaust denial.

“One of the difficult aspects of having type 1 bipolar disorder is the isolated moments — many of which I still can’t remember — that led to poor judgment and reckless behavior that often feels like an out-of-body experience,” he wrote. “I am remorseful and deeply ashamed for my actions in that case, and I am committed to accountability, redress, and meaningful change. But that does not excuse what I did.”

West traced his condition back to a car accident in 2002. His jaw was wired shut in the aftermath, inspiring his debut single that year, “Through the Wire.” “At the time, the focus was on visible damage — breakage, swelling, and direct physical trauma,” he wrote. “The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed.”

He said his brain injury was not properly diagnosed until 2023. “That medical monitoring caused significant damage to my mental health and led to my diagnosis of bipolar I disorder,” which he received in 2016.

West wrote that in early 2025, he had a four-month manic episode of “psychotic, paranoid, and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life,” which left him contemplating suicide. After hitting rock bottom in recent months, he wrote, his wife, Australian architect and performance artist Bianca Sensori, whom he married in 2022, encouraged him to get help.

West wrote candidly about his mental health experiences, highlighting the mortality rate associated with his condition — “on par with severe heart disease, type 1 diabetes, HIV, and cancer.” “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 before, when in reality you’re completely losing your grip.”

“The scariest thing about this disorder is how convincing it is when it tells you: You don’t need help. It makes you blind, but you are convinced that you have the insight. You feel strong, confident, and unstoppable.”

He admitted that he treated his loved ones — including his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and especially their eldest daughter North West — “the worst,” writing that they “endured the fear, confusion, humiliation and exhaustion of trying to get by with someone unrecognizable at times.”

West also apologized to the black community. In recent years, he has made comments suggesting that slavery was a “choice,” worn a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt and appropriated the Confederate flag. “The black community, without a doubt, is the foundation of my identity. I am so sorry that I let you down. I love us.”

He said he found solace on Reddit forums by reading others’ experiences with manic and depressive episodes. “I read their stories and realized I’m not alone. I’m not alone in having their entire life ruined once a year even though I take medications every day and the best doctors in the world tell me I’m not bipolar, but just have ‘autistic symptoms.’

West wrote that medication, therapy, exercise, and “clean living” helped him find clarity, and encouraged him to direct his efforts toward making “positive, purposeful art.”

West’s current album is known as Bully. Its release has been delayed several times, and at one point was scheduled for release on January 30.

“I do not ask for sympathy or free passage, though I aspire to your pardon,” West concluded. “I write today just to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”

Yee’s complete message

To those you hurt:

Twenty-five years ago, I was in a car accident that fractured my jaw and damaged the right frontal lobe of my brain. At that time, the focus was on visible damage – breakage, swelling and direct physical trauma. The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed.

No comprehensive examinations were performed, neurological examinations were limited, and the possibility of frontal lobe involvement was never raised. He was not properly diagnosed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my diagnosis with Bipolar I Type 1.

Bipolar disorder comes with its own defense system. denial. When you’re obsessed, don’t think you’re sick. She thinks everyone is overreacting. You feel like you’re seeing the world more clearly than ever before, when in reality you’re completely losing your grip.

Once people call you “crazy,” you feel as if you can’t contribute anything meaningful to the world. It is easy for people to joke and laugh when in reality this is a very serious debilitating disease that one can die from. According to the World Health Organization and the University of Cambridge, the life expectancy of people with bipolar disorder is about 10-15 years shorter on average, and the all-cause mortality rate is 2x-3x higher than in the general population. This is on par with severe heart disease, type 1 diabetes, HIV, and cancer – all of which are fatal and fatal if left untreated.

The scariest thing about this disorder is how convincing it is when it tells you: I don’t need help. It makes you blind, but convinced that you have insight. You feel strong, confident, and unstoppable.

I have lost touch with reality. Things got worse the more you ignored the problem. I said and did things that I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. I’ve endured the fear, confusion, humiliation, and exhaustion that comes with trying to get over someone who’s sometimes unrecognizable. Looking back, I became disconnected from my true self.

In that torn state, I gravitated toward the most subversive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it. One of the difficult aspects of having type 1 bipolar disorder is the isolated moments — many of which I still can’t remember — that led to poor judgment and reckless behavior that often feels like an out-of-body experience. I am deeply remorseful and ashamed for my actions in that situation, and I am committed to accountability, redress, and meaningful change. That doesn’t excuse what she did though. I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jewish people.

To the black community – who has held me through all the highs, lows and darkest times. The black community is without a doubt the foundation of my identity. I’m so sorry I let you down. I loved us.

In early 2025, I fell into a four-month manic episode of psychotic, paranoid, and reckless behavior that destroyed my life. As the situation became more and more unsustainable, there were times when I didn’t want to be here anymore.

Having bipolar disorder is a marked state of persistent mental illness. When you go into a manic episode, you are sick at that point. When you’re not in an episode, you’re completely “normal.” That’s when the disease wrecks the hardest. I hit rock bottom a few months ago, and my wife encouraged me to finally get help.

I’ve found comfort in Reddit forums of all places. Different people talk about experiencing manic or depressive episodes of a similar nature. I read their stories and realized I was not alone. Not only am I the one who ruins their entire life once a year despite taking meds every day and being told by the best doctors in the world that I’m not bipolar, but I just have “autistic symptoms.”

My words as a leader in my community have global impact and influence. And in my obsession, I lost all sight of it.

As I find a new baseline and new center through an effective regimen of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living, I have gained the new clarity I so desperately need. I pour my energy into positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design, and other new ideas to help the world.

I do not ask for sympathy or free passage, though I aspire to obtain your pardon. I’m writing today just to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.

with love,

Yes