After months of vehemently denouncing Jews on social media, American hip-hop superstar Kanye West is attempting to mend fences with his Jewish fans in the spirit of the holiday season.
On Tuesday, Boxing Day, the rapper, now legally known as Ye, apologised on his Instagram page in Hebrew lettering.
Since 2022, Ye has been exposing his divisive beliefs regarding the Jewish community on social media and in interviews.
In one of the tweets that led to Twitter restricting his account, the rapper wrote, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up, I’ll go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I can’t be anti-semitic because black people are Jewish also. You people toyed with me and tried to blackball whoever opposes your agenda.”
Kanye later clarified that he meant to say Defcon 3 in the tweet. Defence readiness condition (Defcon) is an alert system used by the US military, with five levels of readiness, with level one being the highest. Defcon level 3 refers to an “Increase in force readiness above normal readiness.”
Ye made an apology in a Piers Morgan interview that aired in October 2022, stating that he feels “it’s wrong to hold an apology hostage.”
This apology did not last as he went on another series of rants on several other platforms which led to various levels of restriction on his social media accounts. His biggest loss in the saga came after his multimillion-dollar deal with clothing brand Adidas was scuttled in October 2022.
West has been laying low since the huge loss which dragged him out of the Forbes billionaire’s list. However, the rapper is ready to make a comeback with a new album titled “Vultures”.
The rapper held a livestream listening session for the album in early December; interestingly, some of the lyrics seemed to double down on his 2022 rants.
“How am I antisemitic? I just fucked a Jewish bi**h,” the father-of-four rapped in one of the songs.
In another song, the rapper said, “I still keep some Jews with me / Management? / Nah, I only let ’em do my jewellery.”
At the physical listening session held in Las Vegas, West got into another round of expletive-filled rants which seemed to blame Jews for America’s woes.
“American is just the latest bi*h that has been running through so many times. The Greeks hit her, we had her, the Indians and sh. The motherf*er pilgrims, it’s the Jewish nias, they dress the same, nia! It’s the same sh*.
“Who got the hospitals? These zionists, ni**s. Jesus Christ, Hitler, Ye. Third party. Sponsor that. … Bring your sponsorships to that,” he said. “I don’t give a fk ni*s. I don’t give a f*k about life or death.”
Weeks after the livestream, West tendered his apology for any “unintended outburst” caused by his rants at the event.
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any “unintended outburst” caused by my words or actions,” the Hebrew text read.
“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.”
While West is yet to publicly announce the release date for the new album, after several postponements, a spokesperson told Billboard that the album will likely be out on the 31st of January, 2024.