Anti-Defamation League Calls Ye’s Apology ‘Overdue,’ But It Doesn’t ‘Undo His Long History of Antisemitism’
A spokesperson added, "We wish him well on the road to recovery."
Kanye West
Ye (formerly Kanye West) took another step to apologize to the Jewish community by publishing an apology in the Wall Street Journal on Monday (Jan. 26), and now, the Anti-Defamation League is weighing in.
In response to the rapper’s paid ad in the newspaper detailing his remorse for his “reckless behavior” in platforming antisemitic hate speech over the past few years, an ADL spokesperson said in a statement to Billboard, “Ye’s apology to the Jewish people is long overdue.”
The statement went on to say that Ye’s letter “doesn’t automatically undo his long history of antisemitism,” citing the hip-hop star’s “antisemitic ‘Heil Hitler’ song he created, the hundreds of tweets, the swastikas and myriad Holocaust references — and all of the feelings of hurt and betrayal it caused.”
“The truest apology would be for him to not engage in antisemitic behavior in the future,” the spokesperson added. “We wish him well on the road to recovery.”
The comment from the organization — which is dedicated to combating “all forms of antisemitism and bias,” according to the ADL website — comes hours after WSJ readers opened Monday morning’s issue to see Ye’s letter taking up a full page in the publication. In it, he explained that after suffering a car accident that broke his jaw and caused a traumatic brain injury, he experienced mental health issues that led him to say and do things he now “deeply” regrets.
“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it,” Ye wrote. “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
Ye also noted that he’s working toward a healthier mindset “through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise and clean living,” and that he’s “not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness.”
It marks the biggest action the hitmaker has taken so far in showing he’s changed since turning a new leaf last spring, when he first posted on X that he was “done with antisemitism.” In November, he shared a video of himself apologizing to a Jewish rabbi.
Before that, however, Ye had promoted “White Lives Matter” apparel at his 2022 Paris Fashion Week Show, posted that he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people” and spent years going on a number of hateful rants on X. In May 2025, he released a song called “Heil Hitler” just weeks before he wrote that he was “done” with antisemitism, at which point the ADL told Billboard in a statement, “Sorry, but we’re not buying it.”
The organization added at the time, “It’s going to take a lot more than a couple of tweets to repair the damage of his antisemitic speech.”
This article was first published by Billboard U.S.
