American rapper and producer Kanye West has publicly apologised to the Jewish community over his past anti-Semitic remarks, blaming his controversial outbursts on a brain injury he sustained more than two decades ago.
The apology, signed by the rapper, was published in the print edition of the Wall Street Journal on Monday, following months of backlash over a series of hate-filled rants.
In the statement, Kanye said the car accident he was involved in 25 years ago caused damage to his brain, which he claims went undiagnosed for years and severely affected his mental health.
According to him, the injury later contributed to his bipolar type-1 diagnosis.
“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,” Kanye said.
“At the time, no comprehensive scans were done and neurological examinations were limited. The possibility of frontal-lobe injury was never raised. It was properly diagnosed in 2023.”
He added that the medical oversight had long-term consequences.
“That failure caused serious damage to my mental health, leading to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis,” he said.
Kanye’s apology comes after years of criticism over repeated anti-Semitic statements that led to severed business ties and widespread condemnation across the entertainment industry.
