Kanye West has once again taken an unexpected route to address his controversial social media rants, this time by purchasing a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal.
In the apology issued on Monday, January 26, the rapper, also known as Ye, publicly acknowledged a health battle that he claims fueled his recent erratic behavior.
However, social media users weren’t buying it, with many questioning the timing of the apology in light of his upcoming album and drawing comparisons to his past behavior.
Highlights
- Kanye West issued a public apology through a full-page Wall Street Journal ad, shedding light on his mental health amid backlash over his past antisemitic remarks.
- The timing of the apology left fans unconvinced of his sincerity, with many critics pointing to a similar pattern from 2023 and questioning his “motive” this time.
- While organizations like the Anti-Defamation League called the apology “long overdue,” netizens mocked it as a calculated “PR move,” sparking wild reactions online.
“Rubbish excuse… Not buying it for one moment!” reacted one netizen, while another suspicious user added, “Must have a new album ready to release.”
Kanye West issued a formal apology for his recent erratic social media posts through a full-page advertisement published in The Wall Street Journal yesterday
Image credits: Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
The Yeezy founder made a series of highly controversial posts throughout 2025, particularly targeting the Jewish community with antisemitic rhetoric that significantly damaged his professional standing.
Some of Kanye West’s most infamous moments reportedly included a February 2025 post on X in which he declared himself a N*zi and praised Adolf Hitler.
Around the same time, during the 2025 Super Bowl, he ran advertisements promoting his brand’s $20 T-shirts on his website that featured a sw**tika, an act that reportedly led Shopify to shut down his online store.
Image credits: Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times
A few months later, in May 2025, the 48-year-old rapper released a song titled H*il H*tler, which sampled a controversial speech by Hitler.
The song was subsequently banned in multiple countries, including Germany, while major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube removed the original track and music video, citing violations of hate speech and extremist content policies.
“It's easy for people to joke and laugh it off when in fact this is a very serious debilitating disease you can d*e from,” wrote the God Is singer
Image credits: Wall Street Journal
Now, in an unexpected move, Ye has issued a public apology for his history of antisemitic remarks and what he described as “reckless behavior” through a full-page advertisement reportedly paid for by Yeezy and written by West himself.
In the apology, titled To Those I Hurt, Ye stated that he had “lost touch with reality” and expressed deep regret for praising Hitler and using inflammatory imagery, explaining that the behavior occurred during a severe “manic episode.”
Image credits: AzaBiege
Ye began by explaining, “Twenty-five years ago, I was in a car accident that broke my jaw and caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain. At the time, the focus was on the visible damage - the fracture, the swelling, and the immediate physical trauma. The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed."
“It wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.”
Image credits: Getty Images
Emphasizing how “denial” of the condition worsened his state, Ye shared, “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 continued, “Once people label you as 'crazy,' you feel as if you cannot contribute anything meaningful to the world. It's easy for people to joke and laugh it off when in fact this is a very serious debilitating disease you can d*e from.”
Image credits: Foreverkoots
Addressing how he “lost touch with reality” due to the denial and ignorance surrounding his condition, the CARNIVAL rapper admitted that “things got worse.”
“I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to love someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.”
Netizens were not convinced by the 48-year-old rapper’s apology, with many questioning its “suspicious” timing and citing a familiar pattern from 2023
Image credits: Spotify
He then expressed “regret” over using what he described as the “most destructive symbol,” and over his comments about Hitler.
Ye claimed that due to his bipolar disorder, he “cannot recall” the moments that led to his “poor judgment and reckless behavior,” describing them as an “out-of-body experience.”
Directly addressing the Jewish and Black communities, Ye wrote, “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. I am not a N*zi or antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
Image credits: NovexFi
“To the black community - which held me down through all of the highs and lows and 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.”
Kanye also revealed that in early 2025, he “fell into a four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid, and impulsive behavior,” coinciding with his Hitler post and the release of the controversial T-shirts.
He credited his wife, Bianca Censori, with encouraging him to “finally get help” after “hitting rock bottom a few months ago.”
Image credits: KZLLC/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
He concluded the apology by highlighting his efforts to “find my new baseline and new center through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living.”
“I'm not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness. I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”
The apology arrived just days before the scheduled release of his 12th studio album, Bully, which is set to drop on January 30, 2026.
Image credits: BrittanyXVenti
In light of this timing, many critics remained skeptical, noting that Ye has previously issued similar apologies, including a Hebrew-language Instagram post in late 2023 addressed to the Jewish community.
The now-deleted post at the time was made around the then-scheduled release of his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures.
One critic questioned Kanye’s latest apology, writing, “He may be apologizing that does not mean he has changed any of his views or beliefs. The question is why is he apologizing and what is he apologizing for?”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization dedicated to combating antisemitism, issued a response to Kanye’s apology, calling it “long overdue”
Image credits: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Another agreed, adding, “I want to believe him, but I also can't help but believe he realized his previous public persona didn't sell. The apology is good, but was written by someone else I am sure. Crisis PR is a big industry.”
“Right on time for the release of his new album… This is also like the third time he's 'apologized'. He did an IG post before Vultures came out too. In Hebrew. Then was back on his b*llsh*t,” wrote a third.
“I'm not judging, I'm just not trusting him. Mental illness is terrible and very difficult, in all the forms it presents itself. That being said, Kanye has destroyed trust with just about everyone and I imagine it will take years to repair that, if ever.”
Image credits: Fityeth
However, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), whose mission is to eradicate antisemitism in the United States, noted that the apology was “long overdue.”
In a public statement obtained by the Daily Mail, the organization said, “Ye’s apology to the Jewish people is long overdue and doesn’t automatically undo his long history of antisemitism - the antisemitic ‘H*il H*tler’ song he created, the hundreds of tweets, the sw**tikas and myriad Holocaust references - and all of the feelings of hurt and betrayal it caused.”
“The truest apology would be for him to not engage in antisemitic behavior in the future. We wish him well on the road to recovery.”
Image credits: MEGA/GC Images
Bipolar Type 1 (BD-I) is a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by at least one severe manic episode.
Symptoms include inflated self-esteem, a significantly decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, rapid speech, extreme distractibility, and impulsive or risky behavior, such as excessive spending, reckless driving, and other risky acts.
Severe manic episodes in BD-I can lead to psychosis, causing a detachment from reality through delusions or hallucinations.
Reportedly, Ye was publicly diagnosed with Bipolar Type 1 in 2016 following a psychiatric emergency that led to his hospitalization.
“‘My new album is coming out, so I’m not anti-semitic for a week or two, ‘k,’” mockingly wrote one suspicious social media user reacting to West’s apology
