ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

The rapper Ye, who has a long history of making antisemitic comments, issues an apology in Hebrew

FILE - Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) FILE - Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Share

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.

"I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions," Ye wrote.

"It was not my intention to offend or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused," continued the rapper, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021.

The statement arrives less than two weeks after Ye went on an antisemitic rant in Las Vegas while promoting his upcoming album "Vultures," due out Jan. 12. In the rant, he made insidious insinuations about Jewish influence and compared himself to Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler.

"After 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," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement to The Associated Press and other news outlets on Tuesday. "Ultimately, actions will speak louder than words but this initial act of contrition is welcome."

The American Jewish Committee, however, criticized Ye's use of Hebrew in the apology.

"Beyond being bizarre and possibly a ploy to gain more attention, the Hebrew apology -- posted without translation -- is inaccessible to most American Jews who do not speak the language," the AJC said in a statement to the AP. "To be sure, using Hebrew to communicate with the Jewish community intentionally denies most American Jews-- and, consequently, non-Jews--the ability to directly see Kanye's apology."

"While he claims that he is committed to learning and greater understanding, this apology speaks to `any pain I may have caused,' rather than acknowledging the pain that he has caused," 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 "the mark of the beast." In October 2022, he was criticized for wearing a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt at his Paris Fashion Week show and tweeted that he was going to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale, DEFCON.

Later that month, the Balenciaga fashion house cut ties with Ye and he lost the lucrative partnership with Adidas that helped catapult him to billionaire status over his remarks.

"Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness," the German sportswear company said at the time. Adidas has sold hundreds of millions of euros in remaining Yeezy shoes, donating part of the profits to groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.

(Recently, though, Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said on a podcast episode that he didn't think Ye "meant what he said and I don't think he's a bad person." Gulden later apologized, the Anti-Defamation League said.)

He was also dropped by talent agency CAA, and his documentary with MRC Entertainment was scrapped. He was locked out of his accounts on Instagram and what was then known as Twitter, 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 "death con 3" tweet on a podcast in October 2022, characterizing the initial tweet as a mistake and apologizing to "the Jewish community." He also went on "Piers Morgan Uncensored."

"I will say I'm 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 conspiracy theorist and host Alex Jones that he sees "good things about Hitler."

"We've seen this behavior from Kanye before -- the antisemitic rant and the follow-up apology," the American Jewish Committee said.

Ye's latest apology ends with him saying he's committed to "learning from this experience" and plans on "making amends." A representative for Ye did not immediately respond to the AP's request for further comment.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.