Kanye West has apologized for his antisemitic remarks during a meeting with a Rabbi in New York.
The rapper held a private meeting with a prominent Rabbi Yoshiayao Yosef Pinto in which he said he was “taking accountability” for his antisemitic tirades, which he blamed on his bipolar disorder.
Kanye, who has legally changed his name to Ye, expressed “profound remorse” for his past comments about the Jewish people and sought forgiveness for them, according to Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto.
Video of the meeting, which took place on Tuesday, was circulated on the rabbi’s social media on Thursday.
“I feel really blessed to sit here and take accountability,” West began while holding Pinto’s hands. “I was dealing with various issues. I was dealing with bipolar also, so I would take the ideas I had and forget about the protection of the people around me and myself. So I wanted to take accountability.”
The Chicago native continued: “So it’s like if you left the house and you left your kid at the house and your kid went and messed up the kitchen and messed up the garage and messed up the living room. Then, when you get back, it’s your responsibility because that’s your job. That’s the way I look at it. It’s like I gotta go clean up the kitchen, I gotta clean up the living room, I gotta clean up the garage.”
Ye said he “wanted to come and take accountability,” as he believes these are the “first steps” in building “brick-by-brick” for the “strong walls” in repairing his relationship with the Jewish community.
“A person is not defined by his mistakes, but by the way he chooses to correct them,” Rabbi Pinto, who serves as the leader of the Shuva Israel institutions, said in a translated statement. “This is the true strength of man: The ability to return, to learn, and to build bridges of love and peace.”
West has been under fire for his repeated antisemitic commentary, which included him tweeting he was going to go “death con 3” [sic] on Jewish people in 2022.
Ye’s inflammatory remarks resulted in corporations such as Universal Music Group, Balenciaga, Gap, and Adidas cutting ties with him.
