Kanye West blames brain injury for antisemitic behaviour in full-page apology
Kanye West has claimed his antisemitic behaviour was a side-effect of a brain injury he suffered in a car accident, as he published a page-long apology for his actions in The Wall Street Journal.
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The American rapper, 48, took a full-page advert in the American newspaper to address his vile statements towards Jewish people, which included selling T-shirts bearing swastikas and writing a song praising Adolf Hitler.
He attributed his actions to his bipolar type-1 disorder, which he said developed after a brain injury went "unnoticed" following a car crash in 2002.
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West - now legally known as Ye - claimed this "medical oversight" sparked his bipolar disorder and led him towards "the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika".
"I am not a Nazi or an antisemite," he wrote. "I love Jewish people."
In February last year, West saw his web store pulled from the Spotify platform after he started selling the swastika T-shirts.
Three months later, he released a song called Heil Hitler, which praised the Nazi leader and sampled one of his speeches.
The song was banned in Germany owing to laws against hate speech and extremism, but went viral online.
Far right influencers Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes were filmed making Nazi salutes to the song while it played in a Miami Beach nightclub.
Apologising for his actions, West wrote: “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, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though."
West also apologised to the Jewish community in 2023, having engaged in Holocaust denial.
West had his jaw wired shut in the aftermath of the 2002 car accident in question, which inspired his debut single - Through the Wire.
"At the time, the focus was on the visible damage – the fracture, the swelling and the immediate physical trauma,” he wrote. "The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed."
He said that his brain injury wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023. He received his bipolar type-1 diagnosis in 2016.
“That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis."
He added that he experienced suicidal thoughts after experiencing “psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life” during a fourth-month manic episode in early 2025.
After hitting rock bottom, his wife Bianca Censori, whom he married in 2022, encouraged him to get help.
"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," West wrote.
"You feel like you’re seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality you’re losing your grip entirely.
"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."
West confessed to treating his loved ones “the worst”, writing that they “endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable”.
He also apologised to the Black community, having made comments in recent years suggesting slavery was "a choice" and wearing a T-shirt bearing the "white lives matter" slogan.
"The Black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us," he said.
West also said he was now making "positive, meaningful art" thanks to finding clarity through medication, therapy, exercise and "clean living".
"I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness," West concluded.
"I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home."