Kanye West has shared a fresh apology following the controversy around his forthcoming headline slot at Wireless Festival.
The rapper, who now goes by Ye, was announced last week as the headliner for all three nights of the festival in London’s Finsbury Park in July, with the shows being described as a three-night journey through his “most iconic records”.
The booking has prompted widespread criticism, including from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who said it is “deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism”.
A series of festival sponsors have also cut their ties with Wireless as a result, including Pepsi, drinks giant Diageo, PayPal and Rockstar Energy, piling enormous pressure on the festival to take action.
Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, which co-promotes Wireless alongside Live Nation, has since come out and described West’s past antisemitic remarks as “abhorrent”, but called on people to “offer some forgiveness” last night (April 6).
Now, West has addressed the controversy directly in a new update to his Wall Street Journal “to those I’ve hurt” letter, which he originally shared in January.
“I’ve been following the conversation around Wireless and want to address it directly,” West wrote. “My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through music.
“I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen. I know words aren’t enough – I’ve have to show change through my actions. If you’re open, I’m here. With Love.”
The post also included his original lengthy message in which he explained his erratic and controversial behaviour in recent years.
At the time, West opened up about a “four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed [his] life”, admitting that he “didn’t want to be here anymore” on some occasions.
Ye also shared details of his bipolar type-1 diagnosis, which he’d dismissed early last year. At the time, he said it was “really a case of autism”.
He recalled being involved in a car accident 25 years ago in his WSJ ad, and said this had “caused injury to the right frontal lobe of [his] brain”.
West also expressed his “regret” and told fans he was “deeply mortified by [his] actions in that state, and [is] committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change”. He wrote: “It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.
“To the black community – which held me down through all of the highs and lows and the darkest of times. The black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.”
West’s history of making antisemitic remarks dates back to 2022, when he made a series of offensive comments on social media. Those comments saw his accounts on both Instagram and Twitter suspended, and the musician was dropped by his lawyer, talent agency and record label, along with fashion brands such as Balenciaga and Adidas.
At first, West gave several interviews refusing to apologise for making the comments while suggesting that Jewish people should “forgive Hitler”. However, in 2023, West delivered an apology to the Jewish community, going on to blame alcohol for his behaviour the following year.
In the wake of that initial apology, numerous lawsuits were filed against the rapper with claims of extensive antisemitic behaviour. One former employee alleged that the rapper said Jewish people were “working together to hold him back”.
Another former employee claimed he used antisemitic language in the workplace and praised Hitler – something for which he allegedly paid a settlement for. In 2024, a separate ex-employee accused him of being openly antisemitic in front of his staff.
West also shared a number of highly controversial posts in early 2025, when he took back an apology he previously made to the Jewish community for antisemitic remarks, and then declared himself “a Nazi”. The rapper then claimed on X/Twitter that, “after further reflection”, he’d “come to the realisation that I’m not a Nazi”, followed only a few days later by yet more swastika apparel appearing on his X page.
West has since apologised for his actions by meeting with a rabbi and taking out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal broadcasting a separate apology.
As well as the Prime Minister, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also spoken out against the decision to book Ye at Wireless, as have groups including the Jewish Leadership Council and the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Yesterday, Sajid Javid, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer and current chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, also condemned the festival for booking West, and said he was “certain” the Home Secretary would stop the rapper from entering the UK if Wireless didn’t cancel the shows.
It also emerged that Ye’s right to enter the UK was under government review.
