Ye apologises for anti-Semitic remarks in full-page ad, blames bipolar disorder

Ye, the controversial American hip-hop personality formerly known as Kanye West,

apologised for his past anti-Semitic comments

, attributing his previous offensive public behaviour to bipolar disorder.

“I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change,” Ye, 48, wrote in a full-page advertisement that ran in The Wall Street Journal on Jan 26. “It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jewish people.”

In the ad, Ye addressed his embrace of Hitler, the use of the swastika and a history of anti-Semitic rants that cast him as a pariah and ended a licensing deal with Adidas.

The sneaker maker

cut ties with Ye and his shoe brand Yeezy

after an anti-Semitic outburst in 2022 led to a backlash from consumers and celebrities and calls to boycott Adidas products. Gap and Balenciaga also terminated partnerships, and Ye was banned from several social media platforms. 

Addressing “those I’ve hurt”, Ye said he was in a severe car accident 25 years ago and damage to his brain was not properly diagnosed until 2023. 

“That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis,” he wrote in the lengthy ad. 

Ye has swung between embracing and rejecting the diagnosis in recent years. He said he has been getting treatment after suffering in 2025 a four-month-long “manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life”. 

In February 2025, Ye ran an ad during the Super Bowl that pointed viewers to his website Yeezy.com, where the single item for sale was a white shirt with a black Nazi swastika in its centre, under the product name HH-01. At the same time, he published a barrage of posts on X claiming he had “dominion” over his wife Bianca Censori and praising Hitler. That year, he also released a song titled Heil Hitler.

Ye hit “rock bottom” a few months ago and sought help with encouragement from Censori. His apology comes ahead of the debut of his album Bully, which is set for release on Jan 30, according to Spotify. BLOOMBERG