Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has published a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal apologising for his antisemitic behaviour and denying he is a Nazi. In the open letter titled To Those I’ve Hurt, he writes that he is “not a Nazi or an antisemite” and says he “loves Jewish people”.

What Ye Said in the Apology

In the letter, Ye links his most controversial actions to bipolar type 1 disorder and says a frontal-lobe injury from a 2002 car crash went undiagnosed for years. He claims the injury was only properly identified in 2023 and that the missed diagnosis harmed his mental health.

He also apologised to the Black community and said he had let people down during periods when he “lost touch with reality”. He stresses he is not looking for sympathy or a “free pass” and frames the message as part of seeking forgiveness and accountability.

The Behaviour He Linked to His Mental Health

Ye’s letter references actions that drew widespread condemnation, including selling T-shirts featuring swastikas and releasing a song titled Heil Hitler in 2025. The Guardian reports the track used a Hitler speech sample and later went viral online, with consequences in some places due to laws and public backlash

He describes a four-month manic episode in early 2025 involving “psychotic, paranoid and impulsive” behaviour and says there were moments he did not want to be alive. He says his wife, Bianca Censori, encouraged him to get help after he hit “rock bottom”.