Kanye West apologizes for ‘reckless’ antisemitism in full-page Wall Street Journal ad: ‘I am not a Nazi’

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Kanye West blamed a decades-old car accident for causing his bipolar disease as he finally issued an apology to Black and Jewish communities after years of spewing racist and antisemitic beliefs.

The rapper explained Monday that the car crash 25 years ago left him with a broken jaw and damage to the right frontal lobe of his brain — though the latter went “unnoticed” until 2023.

“Comprehensive scans were not done, neurological exams were limited, and the possibility of a frontal-lobe injury was never raised,” he wrote in a full-page Wall Street Journal ad. “That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.”

West, 48, wrote that the scary diagnosis 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,” he wrote in his lengthy letter.

He added of the “debilitating” disease that 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 went on to apologize for his bad behavior over the last few years, claiming he “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,” he wrote.

“You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self,” West added.

“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it.”

West said his illness — which led to “disconnected moments” he still can’t remember — prompted him to have “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,” he penned.

“It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people,” West declared.

The Grammy winner then spoke directly to the Black community, who he claimed “held [him] down through all of the highs and lows and the darkest of times.”

“The black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us,” West wrote.

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

The rapper said he is not “asking for sympathy, or a free pass,” but he wants to “earn” people’s forgiveness.

“I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home,” he wrote.

West has made several controversial statements over the years.

In 2022, the hip-hop hitmaker rocked a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to a surprise Yeezy fashion show in Paris.

That October, West tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3” on Jewish people. The remark caused several companies to cut ties with the dad of four, including Adidas.

The following year, West wore a black Ku Klux Klan hood to his “Vultures” album listening party.

He also promoted swastika T-shirts in a 2025 Super Bowl ad and released a song titled “Heil Hitler.”