MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Ye, the artist and producer formerly known as Kanye West, is apologizing for his antisemitic comments and behavior. He took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal this week, in which he attributes his actions to a monthslong manic episode due to bipolar disorder. That's a mental illness that causes extreme swings between moods. In his statement, Ye writes, quote, "I am not a Nazi or antisemite. I love Jewish people," unquote. He also apologized to the Black community for letting it down. Anna Peele interviewed Ye about his apology. She's a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, and she's with us now to tell us more about this. Good morning, Anna.
ANNA PEELE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: Now, Ye is a hugely important figure in music and fashion. But for people who might not follow him, could you give us just a couple of examples of his antisemitic behavior? Unfortunately, there are many.
PEELE: So during the four-month manic episode that he references in his apology, he tweeted that he had dominion over his wife, the artist and architect Bianca Censori. He sold swastika T-shirts through his company Yeezy, and he released a song called "Heil Hitler."
MARTIN: And some of these episodes, you know, caused Adidas to sever its very lucrative relationship with his company. You interviewed Ye over email. What are one or two things that stood out to you, and was there anything he didn't respond to?
PEELE: So one of the things that stood out to me was that I asked Ye the question I think a lot of people have, which is whether this is an apology that was meant to be a PR move and to erase some of the stigma that surrounds him regarding his antisemitic statements because he has an album coming out. And he said that he doesn't need to erase the stigma for commercial reasons. He said that he was apologizing because he feels regret and remorse. I also asked him about things like the antisemite and white nationalist Nick Fuentes dancing to the song "Heil Hitler" in a video that was released recently and about the statement saying that he had dominion over his wife. And I also asked about how he's made amends to people in his personal life who he's harmed.
MARTIN: Did he answer that?
PEELE: He did not answer those last three questions, but he answered the rest.
MARTIN: So this isn't the first time, though, that he has tried to apologize for antisemitism. He did this in 2023 before the release of an album. And this apology also comes just before he's about to release new music. So when you asked him why couldn't people just believe that this is just about business, like, what did he say to that?
PEELE: So that was a pretty short statement, and that was released before he went to inpatient treatment in Switzerland. It was released before he started getting medication and figuring out what his regimen would be. He says that he's in a different place now and that he - after his four-month manic episode, that was the first time that he started to actually regret what he said.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, really quickly, how do you think people should receive this? I know you're not a doctor. You're not an expert in this. But how do you think people should receive this?
PEELE: So Avinoam Patt, the director of the Center for the Study of Antisemitism at NYU, said that while there is a pattern of years of antisemitic remarks - and we have to remember that most people who have mental health issues don't say those kind of things - there is a path for redemption. And it would start with saying - with releasing prosocial music...
MARTIN: OK.
PEELE: ...And making positive impacts the way that Ye says he wants to.
MARTIN: OK. That's Anna Peele. She's a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Anna, thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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