Ye meets with Orthodox celebrity rabbi, says he wants to ‘make amends’ after antisemitic outbursts

JTA – After years of virulent antisemitic comments, the American rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, told an Orthodox rabbi on Tuesday, 4 November, in New York that he was ready to “make amends” for his actions.

“I feel really blessed to be able to sit here with you today and just take accountability,” Ye told Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto in a video posted on social media.

Pinto is an Israeli rabbi who serves as the chief rabbi of Morocco. He has previously counselled celebrities including Lebron James, and was jailed in Israel in 2016 for bribery.

Ye first appeared to distance himself from his antisemitic record, which included a song praising Hitler and several tirades on X that included a 2022 vow to “go death con 3 on Jewish people”, in May when he declared on social media that he was “done with antisemitism”.

Since then, the incendiary rapper has been relatively quiet on social media. During his meeting with Pinto, he appeared to cast blame for his actions on his struggle with bipolar disorder.

“I was dealing with various issues, dealing with bipolar also, so it would take the ideas I had to an extreme where I would forget about the protection of the people around me or and myself,” Ye said as the two men held hands.

Explaining his experience with bipolar disorder to the rabbi, Ye said it was like someone “left your kid at the house and your kid went and messed up the kitchen”, but that it was his responsibility to “go clean up the kitchen”.

“It’s a big deal for me as a man to take accountability for all the things that I’ve said, and I really just appreciate you embracing me with open arms and allowing me to make amends,” Ye said. “This is the beginning and the first steps, the first brick by brick to build back the strong walls.”

Following Ye’s appeal, Pinto responded through a translator, who told Ye, “The Jews live in this way, if someone did something wrong, you can regret and fix it. From now on, strong things and good things, you are a very good man.”

The two men then stood up from their chairs and hugged.

“A person isn’t defined by his mistakes, but by the way he chooses to correct them,” wrote Pinto in a post on Instagram of the interaction. “This is the true strength of man: the ability to return, to learn, and to build bridges of love and peace.”

Two hours before Ye reposted the meeting with Pinto on his X account, he posted an advertisement for a planned concert this January in Mexico City. The post was his first since making an identical announcement in September.