West began his letter, published on Monday, by explaining that he was in a car accident 25 years ago that “caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain,” and while “focus was on the visible damage” at the time, “the deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed.”
“It wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis,” the “All of the Lights” singer continued.
West went on to explain the “manic” stage of bipolar disorder, saying it leads to “denial” and the feeling that everyone around you is “overreacting” while “you’re seeing the world more clearly than ever,” when in reality, “you’re losing your grip entirely.”
“The scariest thing about this disorder is how persuasive it is when it tells you: You don’t need help,” he said. “It makes you blind, but convinced you have insight. You feel powerful, certain, and unstoppable.”
“I lost touch with reality,” West asserted. “I said and did things I deeply regret.”
“Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to love someone who was, at times, unrecognizable,” the “Heartless” singer conceded.
The Yeezy founder added that in this “fractured state,” he “gravitated toward the most destructive symbol” he could find, which was the swastika.
“I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state,” West said, adding that he is “committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change.”
“It does not excuse what I did, though,” he added, before clarifying, “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
West also apologized to the black community as a whole, telling them they are “unquestionably, the foundation of who I am,” adding, “I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.”
“My words as a leader in my community have real global impact and influence,” he said. “In my mania, I lost complete sight of that.”
The “Gold Digger” singer also shed some light on his actions at the start of last year, explaining, “I fell into a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
“As the situation became increasingly unsustainable, there were times I didn’t want to be here anymore,” the rapper added.
“Having bipolar disorder is not a state of constant mental illness. When you go into the manic episode, you are ill at that point. When you are not in an episode, you are completely ‘normal.’ And that’s when the wreckage from the illness hits the hardest,” West said.
But after “hitting rock bottom a few months ago,” his wife encouraged him to “finally get help,” the “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” singer revealed.
West added that he “found comfort” in scouring bipolar-related Reddit forums, where he read other people’s first-hand accounts and “realized that I was not alone.”
Near the end of his message, the rapper explained he is finding his “new baseline and new center through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise and clean living,” and now has “newfound, much-needed clarity.”
“I am pouring my energy into positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design, and other new ideas to help the world,” West said.
“I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness,” he added. “I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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