Kanye West Posts Apology on Instagram for Antisemitic Comments

Visitors to Kanye West’s Instagram presence this morning got a glimpse of something unexpected: a post written entirely in Hebrew. As per Ben Beaumont-Thomas at The Guardian, a translation of the post contained an apology that seemed long overdue. “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,” West wrote. He went on to state, “I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”

Unfortunately for West, there’s a lot that this apology could cover. Billboard has a good overview of West’s previous antisemitic statements, including the infamous “death con 3” tweet made in October 2022. There’s also the matter of his association with white nationalist Nick Fuentes (which appears to have ended earlier this year) and Milo Yiannopoulos — who has an antisemitic history of his own — though if West’s political ambitions are paused, as they reportedly are, it isn’t clear whether West and Yiannopoulos are continuing to work together.

There’s also the fact that West has a new album out in a matter of weeks, titled Vultures, in collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign. As someone who cannot read minds, I have no idea if West’s apology is sincere or if he’s simply trying to defuse controversies prior to the release of the aforementioned album.

Vultures has also sparked controversy in advance of its release, with HuffPost’s Jazmine Tolliver reporting that the album features the lyric, “How I’m antisemitic? I just fucked a Jewish bitch.”

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The controversy surrounding Vultures has also encompassed Chris Brown, who was recorded dancing to the song, and who issued a statement of his own clarifying that he is not antisemitic.

“I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future,” West said in the Instagram post made earlier today. We’ll see what actions West ends up actually taking in light of those words.