At 3:00 am EST this morning (December 26,) hip hop superstar Kanye West who now goes by the name Ye posted this apology via Instagram written in the Hebrew language.
“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 demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused,” Ye posted.
His apology comes after losing more than 1.5 billion from his net-worth over the last year due to statements he made in October 2022 deemed antisemitic on Twitter, Drink Champs and other platforms criticizing music and fashion industry. One tweet he made at the time said, “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
In an about turn, his December 26, 2023 statement now says, “I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding more in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
Several major brands severed ties with the Yeezy designer including GAP, Adidas, and Balenciaga along with his lawyers and other industry agent professionals.
Ye had slammed CAA CEO Ari Emanuel who wrote an oped in the Financial Times advising brands to cut ties with the rapper in lie of his criticism and statements about going “DEFCON 3 on Jewish people” on Twitter.
The 46 year old rapper also defended his wearing the MAGA hat attributed to supporters of Donald Trump and wore a White Lives Matter T-Shirt at his fashion show in Paris.
During the same period last October LeBron James’ partner Mav Carter refused to air Ye’s episode of The HBO series “The Shop” fearing they would get a similar backlash as DJ Nore and the Drink Champs.
Subseuently in an interview with Piers Morgan, Kanye had apologized to innocent families who experienced pain due to his statements about Jewish people but in the same breath he said he didn’t regret his remarks.
Piers asked him if he was “sorry” that he said he planned to go “DEFCON 3 on Jewish people.”
“No. Absolutely not,” he replied with a smile. Morgan then suggested he should be. “That is as racist as anything you say you’ve been through, and any pain you’ve experienced, it’s the same thing,” said Morgan, to which Ye responded, “Yeah, obviously, that’s why I said it.” Morgan asked, “So you said it knowing it’s racist?”
“Yes,” said Ye. “I fought fire with fire. I’m not here to get hosed down, it’s a different type of freedom fighter,” making a reference to racist police who used to use fire hoses to disperse Civil Rights era freedom fighters in the 1960s.
After the two went back and forth Ye apologized saying he’s sorry for the “hurt” and “confusion” it caused similar to his now December 26 apology.
He said, “the people that I’ve hurt,” and the “confusion” caused with his remarks. “Hurt people hurt people, and I was hurt.”
Just last month Kanye raised concerns about being followed by his former personal trainer, Harley Pasternak, in Dubai. Ye had shared text messages in the past showing Pasternak threatening to institutionalize West last year after he made comments about Jewish people.
After that incident he went on a 10-minute tirade in Las Vegas, hitting out at Pasternak and promising to slap the sh*t out of Mike Ruben.
He delved into subjects like Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler, and Donald Trump. In this disconcerting outburst, the disgraced Yeezy designer targeted his former business associates, including Balenciaga’s creative director Demna, amidst a crowd of a few dozen people who all had cameras out and cheering him on.
In a video, West said “The French own 8-% of the banks in Africa. Thats why I just met with MBP, the head of Saudi.”
“I made more money to show you that money ain’t nothing. It’s our money, they stole it,” he said.
