‘I Am Not a Nazi’: Kanye West Takes Out WSJ Ad To Apologize for His ‘Reckless Behavior’

Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File

Hip hop mogul Kanye West apologized “To Those I’ve Hurt” in a 750-word ad in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, where he attempted to explain away his erratic behavior over the years that included the use of white nationalist and antisemitic tropes.

West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, began his apology by discussing a brain injury he received in a 2002 car accident, and which he blamed for contributing to his bipolar I disorder.

“I lost touch with reality,” West wrote. “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.”

“In 2018, Ye controversially said that he believed slavery was ‘a choice,’ incensing legions of his fans in the Black community; he later apologized for his statement,” Vanity Fair reported.

The report continued:

In 2022, Ye released a slew of antisemitic statements and imagery. He appeared on Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones’s podcast, Infowars, where he praised Adolf Hitler while also denying the Holocaust. Not long after Musk took over Twitter, Ye was suspended from the platform for posting a swastika (he was reinstated in 2023). In May of 2025, Ye independently released a song titled “Heil Hitler,” which was subsequently banned in Germany. Manosphere figures including alt-right influencers Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate, internet personality Clavicular, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes recently went viral after footage showed them hanging out in Miami Beach while listening to the song.

West wrote in his apology that his “fractured state,” caused him to “gravitate toward the most destructive symbol” he could find, “the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it.”

“I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change,” he continued. “It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”

“To the black community – which held me 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.

He concluded, “I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness.”

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