Kanye West's Apology for Antisemitic Remarks Sparks Skepticism

Kanye West has apologized to "the Jewish community" for a series of antisemitic remarks he made in 2022, but people are skeptical that he is being genuine.

West—who has changed his name to Ye—rose to fame as an outspoken hip-hop producer and has become one of the most prolific rappers of all time. He soon turned his hand to fashion, creating a lucrative line called Yeezys with sportswear brand Adidas.

However, West lost major brand deals over a myriad of antisemitic rants, including his deal with Adidas for his Yeezy streetwear line which he said cost him $1 billion. Forbes had valued his Yeezy deal at $1.5 billion, but without it, his fortune dropped to $400 million.

Among the controversial statements deemed to be antisemitic that West has made is a post he wrote in October 2022 on X, formerly Twitter, where he said he was "going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE ... You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda." The post has since been deleted.

Now the 46-year-old has issued an apology in Hebrew on his Instagram page. He wrote to his 18.2m followers: "I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community ... It was not my intention to hurt or demean, 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."

Newsweek contacted a West representative for further comment via email on Tuesday.

People online have shared their thoughts on his statement, with many not believing it to be legitimate. They have also criticized him for not taking back his original comments.

"He's not recanting his comments. He's not telling the millions he incited to hate and harm us to stop because he was wrong. He's done the damage. He knew exactly what he was saying and doing. He can never undo that because a Jew somewhere in the world got hurt or worse from it," one person posted.

"My name is Kanye, for some weird reason I am an antisemite. I have just realized though that my wealth depends on Jews in the music business so am changing my tune. Also Kim is not an antisemite and is angry with me. I am mental," said another.

"Words are cheap. He has millions of followers who hang onto his every word. Are they all of a sudden going to be persuaded otherwise by this? Doubtful," a third person wrote.

A fourth added: "He has zero credibility."

However, others have said that they believe the rapper.

"I would accept what he says as sincere. Look at his history. He may be bipolar, but he's never shot away from seeing exactly what he thinks and feels; regardless of how outrageous or unpopular it may be," one X user posted.

"Yes. I believe he was testing his audience and their reactions so he can make a conclusion on what state of mind his audiences' is in..." said another.

A third added: "If he's serious about this and is willing to have serious meetings with jewish leaders and explain himself and listen, nothing is beyond redemption."

While it hasn't been proven to have any correlation, West's name was allegedly written on a missile heading to Gaza, with professional Israeli MMA fighter, Haim Gozali, taking credit for the stunt.

A photo was posted to X on Sunday by Gozali, who has been very outspoken on the conflict between Israel and Hamas and has served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) before.

On October 7, Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, which it said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Israel declared war on Hamas and launched hundreds of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, followed by a ground invasion.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Israel, The Associated Press has reported, and more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health authorities in Gaza, the AP said.

In the photo that Gozali uploaded, the words "Kanye West Flying to Gaza Haim Gozali" were written on an apparent missile.

He captioned the post: "@kanyewest you don't like us jewish. So we don't like you too!!!"

It is not clear whether Gozali wrote the message himself and Newsweek is yet to verify that the photo hasn't been doctored.

Gozali previously posted a similar photo with the names of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Khamzat Chimaev and Belal Muhammad written on an IDF missile. Those four men are current and former mixed martial artists who have voiced their support for Palestine.

Some X users have also theorized that the reason West has posted his apology is because he is preparing to release his latest album, Vultures, which is expected on 12 January.

The collaboration with vocalist Ty Dolla $ign also features appearances from Nicki Minaj, Young Thug and West's daughter North West. It was originally due for release on 15 December but was pushed back.