Kanye West Says Apology Isn’t About ‘Reviving’ Career in New Interview

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, published a lengthy apology letter addressed to “those I’ve hurt” in the form of a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on Monday. He credited his antisemitic behavior to untreated brain damage and mental illness and wrote, “It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.” He also apologized to the Black community, writing, “I am so sorry to have let you down.”

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Ye answered some questions about the mea culpa. The Grammy-winning hip-hop artist wrote his responses via email to the publication and “declined to answer” some of the magazine’s questions “about where his antisemitic sentiments may have originated from and why, and how he has made amends in his personal life,” according to Vanity Fair.

In the Q&A, Ye addressed concerns that the apology looks like a “PR move” ahead of the release of his new album, “Bully,” supposedly out on Friday.

“It’s my understanding that I was in the top 10 most listened-to artists overall in the U.S. on Spotify in 2025, and last week and most days as well. My upcoming album, ‘Bully,’ is currently one of the most anticipated pre-saves of any album on Spotify too. My 2007 album, ‘Graduation,’ was also the most listened-to and streamed hip-hop album of 2025,” Ye wrote to Vanity Fair, implying he did not need to own up to his mistakes in order to promote his new album.

“This, for me, as evidenced by the letter, isn’t about reviving my commerciality,” he continued. “This is because these remorseful feelings were so heavy on my heart and weighing on my spirit. I owe a huge apology once again for everything that I said that hurt the Jewish and Black communities in particular. All of it went too far. I look at wreckage of my episode and realize that this isn’t who I am. As a public figure, so many people follow and listen to my every word. It’s important that they realize and understand what side of history that I want to stand on. And that is one of love and positivity.”

Ye wrote that he began to regret some of his public statements and actions once he was out of a four-month manic episode that began in early 2025. During that time, he ranted about Jews on social media, sold T-shirts emblazoned with swastikas and released a song titled “Heil Hitler.” These actions came a couple of years after a string of antisemitic tirades led to Ye’s reputational fallout and caused several corporations to sever ties with him.

“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,” Ye wrote to Vanity Fair.

Ye added that toward the end of his manic episode in 2025, “my medication was changed,” and “the antipsychotic drug took me into a really deep depressive episode.” His wife, Bianca Censori, encouraged him to go to a rehabilitation facility in Switzerland.

Asked about his fears regarding medication, Ye wrote, “The African American community has a hypersensitivity to antipsychotic drugs, more than most groups. Finding the right dosage is difficult, but it’s important and critical to finding the right balance with the illness.”

He said the majority of people who take antipsychotic drugs experience side effects, and “I’m just trying to find what works for me so that I can continue down this positive course.”