Kanye West put out a letter/bought a full page of ad space in the Wall Street Journal. In it, he goes in-depth about how various brain injuries and bipolar disorder resulted in multiple manic events, paranoia, and his many, many incidents of hate speech. West lays out how he is not an antisemite but loves Jewish people and is sorry for letting the black community down. "I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness," is one excerpt from the writing. He discusses losing all touch with reality for a good period of time, hurting those he loved most, and otherwise being destructive and reckless. And you know what? Good for him if he is truly taking accountability and getting help!
Mental health is a Hell of a thing, and if he was having paranoid delusions but also too rich and powerful for anyone to say, "This is not okay," it is obvious how things would--and did--get out of hand. That said, the timing of this is a bit suspicious as Ye's latest album, "Bully," happens to be released this Friday. Mr. West basically published a letter saying, "My bad for the multiple years of awful statements and erratic behavior, buy/stream my new LP!" and that is awkward all around.
I used to be a huge fan of Kanye West and loved his earlier work. I defended him on this blog, a lot! I supported him in his long-running feud with Taylor Swift and thought she was the villain! Then, things started to shift, and at some point, I became quite pro-Swift and disgusted with the actions of Ye. He even knows that a single letter attempting to explain his myriad of horrific actions won't fix everything, but it is a start, and if he continues to work on rehabilitating not only his image but healing himself, maybe there is hope for Kanye West. Maybe, but he has a long road ahead of him for sure.
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