Ye doubles down in 'huge apology' to Jewish community
Ye doubles down in 'huge apology' to Jewish community
Anna Kaufman and Pamela Avila, USA TODAYTue, January 27, 2026 at 10:58 PM UTC
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After Ye pulled out a full-page newspaper ad to apologize for his previous antisemitic comments, the rapper is doubling down and attempting to assure the public that it's not a PR stunt.
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, said in a series of emailed statements to Vanity Fair, published Tuesday, Jan. 27, that his apology letter to the Black and Jewish communities was not a part of a strategy ahead of his new studio album, "Bully."
Instead, the rapper insisted that "these remorseful feelings were so heavy on my heart and weighing on my spirit" and that he owed "a huge apology once again for everything that I said that hurt the Jewish and Black communities in particular."
"I look at wreckage of my episode and realize that this isn't who I am," Ye told Vanity Fair.
In the apology letter featured in a Wall Street Journal advertisement Monday, Jan. 26, Ye said his mental health history – including a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and a four-month manic episode that took place in the first half of 2025 – was what allegedly fueled his "reckless" behavior.
1 / 0See Kanye West, Ye, the polarizing rapper, fashion mogul
Born Kanye Omari West, Ye transformed himself from a college dropout in Chicago to an undisputable icon of music and fashion. But a string of controversies has the rapper facing a fallout. In October 2022, several companies, including Adidas and Balenciaga fashion house, cut ties with the star after he made antisemitic remarks.Look back on Ye's life and career, from his marriage and divorce from Kim Kardashian to his polarizing political statements. Here, Ye and Bianca Censori attend the 67th Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Ye talks manic episodes, medications in Vanity Fair interview
Ye gave context about his state of mind in the Vanity Fair interview, saying he's "been put on and taken off of many medications" over time. "Toward the end of my four-month-long manic episode, my medication was changed. In that shift, the antipsychotic drug took me into a really deep depressive episode."
He said wife Bianca Censori "recognized" the issues and helped him find an "effective and stabilizing course correction in my regime from a rehab facility in Switzerland."
"When you're manic, you really don't think that you're sick," Ye told Vanity Fair. "You think that everyone else is deeply overreacting. You feel like you're seeing the world so much more clearly on things, when in reality you're losing your grip entirely."
Now, experts are weighing in on Ye's apology and whether his mental reasoning is enough to get him in the public's good graces.
Ye apologizes, says he's not 'an antisemite' in full-page newspaper ad
Ye apology letter comes after social media tirades; ADL speaks out
In recent years, Ye has lauded Adolf Hitler with the release of a song titled "Heil Hitler," sold clothing emblazoned with the swastika symbol through his clothing company Yeezy and used pro-Nazi language in his social media posts and tirades.
"I am not a Nazi or an antisemite," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal full-page ad. "I love Jewish people."
Kanye West and Bianca Censori attend the 67th GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Ye wrote in the ad that in his "mania, I lost complete sight of" his "global impact and influence," adding that he is "deeply mortified by my actions" and is "committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change."
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However, in his interview with Vanity Fair, he seemingly refused to acknowledge where his antisemitic views originated from.
The rapper said he is committed and dedicated to repairing relationships frayed by his alleged manic episodes. "All of the family bonds, deep relationships, and lifelong friendships that I worked so hard to build over so many years were all tarnished by all of the horrible statements that I made so impulsively," he told Vanity Fair.
That sentiment was echoed by a spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League, who said in a statement to USA TODAY on Monday, Jan. 26, that it was not an automatic tabula rasa.
The organization said Ye's apology to the Jewish community "was long overdue" but doesn't "automatically undo his long history of antisemitism – the antisemitic 'Heil Hitler' song he created, the hundreds of tweets, the swastikas and myriad Holocaust references – and all of the feelings of hurt and betrayal it caused," the statement read.
"The truest apology would be for him to not engage in antisemitic behavior in the future," the organization concluded. "We wish him well on the road to recovery."
Is Ye apology 'lip service'? Expert weighs in
Ye also revealed in the WSJ ad that in 2023, he was diagnosed with an injury to his right frontal lobe after sustaining injuries from his 2002 car accident, which inspired the breakthrough single "Through the Wire."
Andrea Bonior, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at Georgetown University, says that either the brain injury or Ye's BPD diagnosis could have led to delusional thinking, but conflating the two may not be the right way to look at the situation.
Bonior tells USA TODAY "there's no real evidence" that a traumatic brain injury "directly causes bipolar disorder." Medical technicalities aside, Bonior says Ye's open letter is a start in repairing the damage caused by his comments, widely viewed as antisemitic.
But they won't hold much weight until he has time to prove himself, Bonior says. "This apology itself could be seen as part of a pattern that's going to go right back to where it was before. He's certainly apologized before," Bonior said. "It's really hard, especially for people in the Jewish community, to know whether this is lip service."
Kanye West attends the Anonymous Club fashion show during Berlin Fashion Week on July 1, 2024, in Berlin.
Only time will tell. "The best apology is changed behavior," Bonior says. "Is he really getting the treatment that he might need? Does he have the support of people who have his best interest in mind and will help him actually make amends, actually atone for the hurt that he's caused?"
In the meantime, Bonoir warns of "creating a dialogue where any and all racism or antisemitism can potentially be excused away by mental health."
"It's really important we recognize that mental health problems and racism or antisemitism … are unique problems that may overlap a bit, but they each require, I think, different solutions."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ye apology letter followed by interview, 'manic episode' revelation
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
