The rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has a long history of making antisemitic comments, apologized to the Jewish community in an Instagram post written in Hebrew on Tuesday.
鈥淚 sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions,鈥 Ye wrote.
鈥淚t was not my intention to offend or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused,鈥 continued the rapper, who
The statement arrives less than two weeks after Ye went on an antisemitic rant in Las Vegas while promoting his upcoming album 鈥淰ultures,鈥 due out Jan. 12. In the rant, he made insidious insinuations about Jewish influence and compared himself to Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler.
鈥淎fter causing untold damage by using his vast influence and platform to poison countless minds with vicious antisemitism and hate, an apology in Hebrew may be the first step on a long journey towards making amends to the Jewish community and all those who he has hurt,鈥 the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement to The Associated Press and other news outlets on Tuesday. 鈥淯ltimately, actions will speak louder than words but this initial act of contrition is welcome.鈥
The American Jewish Committee, however, criticized Ye's use of Hebrew in the apology.
鈥淏eyond being bizarre and possibly a ploy to gain more attention, the Hebrew apology 鈥 posted without translation 鈥 is inaccessible to most American Jews who do not speak the language,鈥 the AJC said in a statement to the AP. 鈥淭o be sure, using Hebrew to communicate with the Jewish community intentionally denies most American Jews鈥 and, consequently, non-Jews鈥攖he ability to directly see Kanye鈥檚 apology.鈥
鈥淲hile he claims that he is committed to learning and greater understanding, this apology speaks to 鈥榓ny pain I may have caused,鈥 rather than acknowledging the pain that he has caused,鈥 the AJC continued.
Ye has a history of offensive and antisemitic comments, including repeated praise of Hitler and the Nazis. He also once suggested slavery was a choice and called the coronavirus vaccine 鈥渢he mark of the beast.鈥 In October 2022, he was criticized for wearing a 鈥淲hite Lives Matter鈥 T-shirt at and tweeted that he was going to go 鈥渄eath con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,鈥 an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale, DEFCON.
Later that month, the with Ye and he that helped catapult him to billionaire status over his remarks.
鈥淵e鈥檚 recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company鈥檚 values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,鈥 the German sportswear company said at the time. Adidas has sold hundreds of millions of euros donating part of the profits to groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.
(Recently, though, that he didn't think Ye 鈥渕eant what he said and I don't think he's a bad person.鈥 Gulden the Anti-Defamation League said.)
He was also CAA, and his documentary with MRC Entertainment was scrapped. He was though he has since returned to both platforms.
This isn't the first the rapper has apologized for his antisemitic comments. He expressed some remorse for his 鈥渄eath con 3鈥 tweet on a podcast in October 2022, characterizing the initial tweet as a mistake and apologizing to 鈥渢he Jewish community.鈥 He also went on 鈥淧iers Morgan Uncensored.鈥
鈥淚 will say I鈥檓 sorry for the people that I hurt with the confusion that I caused," he said on the show. But less than two months later, he told that he sees 鈥済ood things about Hitler.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen this behavior from Kanye before 鈥 the antisemitic rant and the follow-up apology,鈥 the American Jewish Committee said.
Ye鈥檚 latest apology ends with him saying he鈥檚 committed to 鈥渓earning from this experience鈥 and plans on 鈥渕aking amends.鈥 A representative for Ye did not immediately respond to the AP鈥檚 request for further comment.
