Kanye West blames bipolar disorder for his rants

Rapper denies being a Nazi, regrets anti-Semitic comments

NEW YORK:

Rapper Kanye West on Monday denied being a Nazi and expressed regret over his antisemitic rants, blaming such behavior — which included recording a song that celebrates Hitler — on his bipolar disorder.

The disgraced 48-year-old music star, who has lost fans and business deals in recent years because of his racist or antisemitic outbursts, released his song "Heil Hitler" last May to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

The song has been banned on major music streaming platforms but is easy to find on the internet. Among other punishment it cost West his visa to travel to Australia.

West, who changed his name to Ye and struggled with bipolar disorder for years, said in an open letter published Monday in The Wall Street Journal that when bipolar people are in a manic phase they do not feel sick.

"You think everyone else is overreacting. You feel like you're seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality you're losing your grip entirely," said West, whose achievements include winning 24 Grammy awards.

In his letter entitled "To Those I've Hurt," he said he sometimes has "disconnected moments" that lead to poor judgment and reckless behavior, describing such instances as feeling like an out-of-body experience.

"I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change," West said.

"It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people."

In late 2023 West apologized to Jews for having said "I love Nazis."

In 2022 he caused outrage by wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "White Lives Matter," seen as a racist insult to the Black Lives Matter movement, and by attending a dinner with Donald Trump that included the white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes.

From 2014 to 2022, he was married to Kim Kardashian, with whom he has four children. In 2020, West ran an unsuccessful independent presidential campaign. Starting in 2022, West has drawn widespread condemnation — and lost sponsors and partnerships — for expressing antisemitic views; he has self-identified as a Nazi, praised Adolf Hitler, used swastika imagery, and denied the Holocaust. In January 2026, he published a letter expressing regret for his actions, attributing them to his struggles with bipolar disorder.

West is one of the best-selling music artists, with 160 million records sold, and the 12th-most awarded artist at the Grammy Awards, with 24 wins. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015. Rolling Stone listed six of West's albums The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation (2007), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and Yeezus (2013) — in its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list and named him one of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time".

West demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age; he began writing poetry when he was five years old. West started rapping in the third grade and began making musical compositions in the seventh grade, eventually selling them to other artists. West crossed paths with producer No I.D., who became West's friend and mentor. After graduating from high school, West received a scholarship to attend Chicago's American Academy of Art in 1997 and began taking painting classes.