Kanye West has denied claims that his recent apology was an attempt to “revive” his career.
The rapper made headlines on Monday after publishing a full-page apology addressing his previous antisemitic and racist outbursts.
Shortly after the apology appeared in The Wall Street Journal, social media users suggested it had been timed to coincide with the release of his upcoming album Bully, accusing Kanye of trying to rebuild his public image ahead of his new music.
However, in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Kanye insisted his career did not need reviving.
“It’s my understanding that I was in the top 10 most listened-to artists overall in the U.S. on Spotify in 2025, and last week and most days as well,” he said. “My upcoming album, Bully, is currently one of the most anticipated pre-saves of any album on Spotify too.”
He added, “My 2007 album, Graduation, was also the most listened to and streamed hip-hop album of 2025.”
The Gold Digger rapper went on to claim that the harm caused by his past remarks had been “weighing” on him.
“This, for me, as evidenced by the latter, isn’t about reviving my commerciality,” he told the publication. “This is because these remorseful feelings were so heavy on my heart and weighing on my spirit.”
Kanye also addressed the communities affected by his previous comments.
“I owe a huge apology once again for everything that I said that hurt the Jewish and Black communities in particular,” he stated. “All of it went too far. I look at wreckage of my episode and realise that this isn’t who I am.”
In his apology published on Monday, Kanye attributed some of his past behaviour to a car accident 25 years ago, which he claimed damaged his frontal lobe. He also said he “lost touch with reality” following his bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2016.
The rapper has sparked controversy with his antisemitic remarks on and off since 2022. The scandal reached a fever pitch last year when he started selling T-shirts bearing the swastika.
