Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, seems to have owned up to his record of hateful rants about Jews.
The rapper’s sorry-not-sorry apology for his three-year string of antisemitic and pro-Nazi comments came Tuesday during an apparent meeting in New York City with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, a controversial Orthodox leader known as a guru to business titans and celebrities, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.
A video of their conversation, originally posted on Pinto’s Instagram account, went viral Thursday.
‘I’m really blessed to be able to sit here with you today and just take accountability,’ Ye, his voice subdued, can be heard telling the non-English speaking rabbi through a Hebrew translator.
‘I was dealing with some various issues, bipolar, also, so it would take the ideas I had and had them, take them to an extreme where I would forget about the protection of the people around me, or myself,’ Ye continued.
‘So it’s like if you left the house and left your kid at the house and your kid went and messed up the kitchen and messed up the garage, mess up the living room. Now, when you get back, it’s your responsibility, because that’s your child,’ he said.
Kanye West, also knowns as Ye, made a significant choice in his decision to renounce his antisemitic ideology, meeting with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto in New York City on Tuesday to apologize
Pinto, a controversial Orthodox rabbi regarded as a spiritual adviser to business moguls and celebrities of all backgrounds, shared their conversation on Instagram, where it quickly went viral on Thursday
In the video, Ye tells the Rabbi that his bipolar disorder made his ideas ‘extreme’ to the point where he would ‘forget about the protection of the people around me, or myself’
‘And I really just appreciate you embracing me with open arms and allowing me to make amends. And this is beginning in the first steps, and the first brick by brick to build, to build back the strong walls.’
Pinto, who appears in the video holding Ye’s hands and listening to him attentively, seemed to absolve him for his comments.
‘Judaism brought to the world a way for someone, when he regrets something that you have done wrong … you can regret and fix it,’ the rabbi told the rapper.
Their apparent meeting ended with a hug.
The reconciliation came just two days before Ye was first seen with his elusive wife, Bianca Censori for the first time in months, boarding a plane out of LAX on Thursday – wearing the same outfit he’d had on in the video.
Just a day earlier, Censori had been spotted in Melbourne, Australia, after a brief two-day visit, strutting through the airport in a figure-hugging all-black ensemble.
Their exchange ended with a hug, as Pinto told Ye that if he truly regretted his past behavior, he had the power to make things right – seemingly offering him absolution for his history of antisemitic remarks
The reconciliation came just two days before Ye was spotted with his elusive wife, Bianca Censori, for the first time in months as they boarded a plane out of LAX on Thursday
Censori and Ye were both dressed in all-black ensembles as they walked across the tarmac, with the rapper appearing to wear the same outfit from his Tuesday meeting
Just a day earlier, Censori had been seen in Melbourne, Australia, wrapping up a quick two-day visit and strutting through the airport in a sleek, figure-hugging all-black outfit
Nicki Minaj publicly commended Ye’s meeting with the prominent rabbi, writing on X: ‘So happy to see Kanye publicly take accountability for the pain his words may have caused to so many. Standing with our Jewish brothers & sisters.’
Ye’s string of antisemitic remarks began in late 2022, including a tweet that he was planning to go ‘death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.’
He embraced conspiracy theories that ‘Jewish people’ control the media, the music industry and finances, saying, ‘The Jewish media blocked me out. This is not hate speech, this is the truth.’
He also praised Adolf Hitler and Nazis.
His remarks prompted Adidas, Balenciaga and his talent agency CAA, to stop doing business with him in 2022.
Most recently, the rapper released a song earlier this year entitled ‘Heil Hitler.’
Nicki Minaj praised Ye’s meeting with the well-known rabbi, posting on X that she was ‘so happy to see Kanye take public accountability for the pain his words may have caused so many,’ adding that she stands ‘with our Jewish brothers and sisters’
In his Heil Hitler music video that dropped earlier this year, he raps: ‘N*****s see my Twitter but they don’t see how I be feeling / So I became a Nazi, yeah b****, I’m the villain’
Ye attributing his rants to bipolar disorder comes as a curveball in his evolving understanding of his mental health condition.
He said for years that he struggled with bipolar until asserting last winter that he had been misdiagnosed and has autism, instead.
His apparent comments Tuesday suggest that he is once again embracing the diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which is characterized by extreme mood swings between periods of high energy, known as mania, and low-energy, or depression.
It is often referred to as manic depression.
The Anti-Defamation League, whose mission is to eradicate antisemitism in the US, did not return the Daily Mail’s inquiry seeking its response to Ye’s meeting with the rabbi and comments.
On social media, some users are praising Ye for acknowledging his actions and taking responsibility, while others remain skeptical, noting that he blamed his tirades on his mental health condition rather than flat-out apologizing for them.
‘If someone wants to change — particularly someone who has played a significant role in the explosion of Jew hatred globally — it takes years to prove it,’ journalist Yashar Ali posted on X. ‘I do not believe Kanye has changed; he’s deeply unwell.’
Ye, who earlier this year was seen wearing a diamond swastika chain, appears to have made a dramatic turnaround from his previous views, which echoed conspiracy theories claiming that ‘Jewish people’ control the media, music industry and global finances
However, prominent Jewish figures like Yashar Ali remain skeptical, posting on X that he believes Ye is “unwell” and reminding followers of the rapper’s past association with Nick Fuentes
Another poster, @RabbiShmuley, wrote: ‘Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto @rabbi_pinto Disgraces Himself and Betrays the Jewish People by legitimizing Hitler-lover and demonic antisemite @Ye Kanye West. I need to vomit.’
Neither Ye, Pinto or Pinto’s organization, Shuva Israel, could be reached to comment on what led to the meeting, why the rapper chose that particular rabbi to reach out to and what other Jewish leaders may have declined such a meeting.
Pinto, 52 – only four years older than the far younger-looking 48-year-old Ye – is an Israeli Moroccan Orthodox rabbi and teacher of the Kabbalah, an ancient Jewish mystical tradition followed by Madonna, among other celebrities.
He has a history of legal problems, including being investigated for alleged money laundering in Israel, which led him to plead guilty in 2014 to bribing a high-ranking Israeli police officer.
He served a brief prison sentence in Israel before being named chief rabbi of Morocco in 2019.
In the meantime, he has become a guru of sorts to business leaders and celebrities.
His followers are said to include Jay Schottenstein, chairman American Eagle Outfitters, and real estate mogul Jacky Ben-Zaken and disgraced former Congressman Anthony Wiener, as well as non-Jews, including LeBron James.
