In a dramatic attempt to salvage his reputation and career, the rapper and fashion mogul Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has taken out a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, attributing his years of antisemitic rhetoric and erratic behavior to an undiagnosed brain injury sustained in his infamous 2002 car crash.
The open letter, published on Monday, January 26, 2026, and titled “To Those I’ve Hurt,” sees the 48-year-old artist issuing a sweeping apology to the Jewish and Black communities. He explicitly denies being a Nazi, a label he had controversially embraced as recently as early 2025. In the statement, Ye claims that the near-fatal car accident 24 years ago—which inspired his breakout single Through the Wire—caused damage to his right frontal lobe that went unnoticed by medical professionals until 2023. He argues that this medical oversight exacerbated his mental health struggles, leading to his eventual diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder Type 1 in 2016.
Ye wrote in the advertisement that he is not a Nazi or an antisemite and expressed love for Jewish people. He explained that in early 2025, he fell into a four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid, and impulsive behavior that destroyed his life and caused him to lose touch with reality. The apology comes after a turbulent 12 months that saw the rapper reach new lows in public opinion. In February 2025, Ye sparked global outrage by selling T-shirts adorned with swastikas on his website and declaring “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi” on social media platforms, leading to the deletion of his X (formerly Twitter) account.
The situation escalated in May 2025 when he released a track titled Heil Hitler, which sampled a speech by the Nazi leader. The release led to the immediate cancellation of his visa by Australian authorities, preventing him from visiting the home country of his wife, Bianca Censori. By August 2025, he faced renewed legal pressure after being ordered to pay over $76,000 in legal fees to a former employee who sued him for a hostile work environment.
Ye credits his wife, Australian architect Bianca Censori, with pulling him back from the brink. He revealed in the letter that he hit rock bottom a few months ago and experienced suicidal ideation, but Censori encouraged him to finally seek professional help and adhere to a treatment regimen involving medication and therapy.
Despite the public contrition, the reaction from Jewish advocacy groups has been cool. A spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) dismissed the apology as a familiar cycle, stating that they are not buying it, having seen similar attempted apologies from him before only for him to back down repeatedly. The ADL noted that Ye had issued a similar apology in Hebrew in late 2023, only to resume his hateful rhetoric months later.
It remains to be seen if this latest pivot will restore Ye’s standing in the fashion and music industries. His partnership with Adidas remains severed, a split that left the sportswear giant with millions in unsold Yeezy inventory. Musically, his album Vultures 2 was released in August 2024 to mixed reviews, while the planned Vultures 3 remains in limbo, reportedly canceled due to the strain his controversies placed on his collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign. For now, Ye says he is asking for patience and understanding as he attempts to find his way home.
