Kanye West says he suffered neurological damage from his 2002 car crash that famously left him with a broken jaw. He reflected on the incident during a lengthy apology he published in the latest issue of The Wall Street Journal. In doing so, West claimed that the damage went undiagnosed until 2023 and was the cause of his bipolar condition.
"Twenty-five years ago, I was in a car accident that broke my jaw and caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain. At the time, the focus was on the visible damage—the fracture, the swelling, and the immediate physical trauma. The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed," he wrote.
He continued: "Comprehensive scans were not done, neurological exams were limited, and the possibility of a frontal-lobe injury was never raised. 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."
Kanye West's Apology
After recalling the car crash and brain damage, West began his apology to the Jewish community for spreading constant antisemitism over the last several years. "I lost touch with reality," he admitted. "Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. 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 have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self."
"In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it," he further said. "One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments - many of which I still cannot recall - that led to poor judgment and reckless behavior that oftentimes feels like an out-of-body-experience. I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people."
The letter comes after West previously walked back his antisemitism by sitting down with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto in November. At the time, he explained he wanted to "take accountability."
