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Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, took to social media Tuesday to apologize for a series of antisemitic comments he made last year.
The post, which received more than 1.3 million likes and over 69,000 comments in 11 hours on Instagram, was written entirely in Hebrew. When translated, it reads:
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions. It was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused. I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
Ye sparked controversy when, in Oct. 2022, he tweeted that he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” making an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON. In addition, Ye also received backlash for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at one of his Yeezy collection shows in Paris.
This led to many companies that associated with the rapper cutting ties with him, including Adidas, Gap, the Creative Artists Agency, Balenciaga and Foot Locker among others.
As for the reception of Ye’s post on Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter on Tuesday morning acknowledging his “act of contrition.”
“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 ADL said. “Ultimately, actions will speak louder than words, but this initial act of contrition is welcome.”
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