Kanye West, after antisemitic tirades, meets prominent kabbalist to ‘make amends’
West, known as Ye, who has been one of the most vocal antisemites over the past few years, meets with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto and attributes his behavior to bipolar disorder
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Ye, the US rapper and fashion designer formerly known as Kanye West, has met in New York with Israeli-Moroccan Orthodox Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, a prominent kabbalist, to apologize for his series of antisemitic outbursts over the past few years, according to social media posts on Thursday.
Ye began issuing antisemitic tirades on social media and in other forums in 2022, vowing to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” and making a stream of other anti-Jewish remarks. The invective has badly damaged his career, including Adidas cutting off its partnership with Ye in 2022.
His antisemitic vitriol has since surfaced intermittently. This year, he aired a Super Bowl ad in February for a website selling a swastika T-shirt, and then, in May, released a song called “Heil Hitler,” featuring a recording of the Nazi leader, that garnered millions of views on social media.
Less than six months later, he came to Pinto to say he wanted to “make amends.” He did not refer directly to his antisemitic remarks in the footage and attributed his behavior to bipolar disorder, which he has often spoken openly about.
“I feel really blessed to be able to sit here with you today and just take accountability,” Ye, wearing a black poncho and baseball cap, told the rabbi, through a translator.
“I was dealing with some various issues, bipolar, also, so it would take the ideas I had and… take them to an extreme where I would forget about the protection of the people around me, or myself,” he said.
Oh!
Kanye West + Rabbi Pinto = Duo of the century
pic.twitter.com/xxwHtV6oYz— Emily Austin (@emilyraustin) November 6, 2025
He added that he feels there is a lack of awareness of bipolar disorder and how it manifests, comparing the experience to being the parent of a misbehaving child.
“So it’s like if you left the house and you left your kid at the house and your kid went and messed up the kitchen and messed up the garage, messed up the living room. Now, when you get back, it’s your responsibility, because that’s your child,” Ye said.
He ended his remarks by thanking Pinto, who wore navy and gold robes and a headdress.
“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,” he said.
Pinto, a kabbalist with a sizable and influential international following, was sentenced in an Israeli court for bribing a senior police official in 2014. He moved to Morocco shortly after his release from prison in Israel in early 2017, and was sworn in as the country’s chief rabbinical judge two years later.
He has been spotted with other celebrities, including NBA superstar LeBron James, who held his hand at a Jewish wedding in 2022.
He told Ye about the Jewish concept of teshuva, or repentance.
“Judaism gave the world repentance,” the rabbi said in response, with the translator adding in a bit of explanation. “Judaism lives on repentance.”
He said that he was “embracing” Ye, and wished him “strong things, good things, and only good.” He added, “You are a good person,” and gave Ye a hug.
This is at least the third time Ye has expressed some form of regret over his antisemitism. In 2023, he posted online that he had a change of heart after watching the 2012 comedy “21 Jump Street,” starring the Jewish actor Jonah Hill.
“Watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street made me like Jewish people again,” Ye wrote. “No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people.”
Later that year, he posted a message in broken Hebrew on Instagram that read, “Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
The Times of Israel Community.