After years of confusion, controversy, and silence, one of music’s most polarizing figures is finally offering a window into the cause of his public downfall.Kanye West has broken his silence with a personal message unlike any before. In a full-page letter published in The Wall Street Journal, the rapper and designer, now legally known as Ye, confronts his controversial behavior and pleads for patience from those who have watched him unravel, offering, for the first time, a candid explanation behind the chaos.On January 26, 2026, the 48-year-old artist, once hailed as one of the most influential forces in pop culture with record-breaking albums and elite brand partnerships, chose to publish an apology as an advertisement paid via the Yeezy brand.

Titled “To Those I’ve Hurt,” the letter begins by revisiting a car crash that occurred in 2002, a moment Ye now believes altered the course of his life.”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,” Ye writes. “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.”And yet, the rapper penned and recorded his 2003 debut solo single, “Through the Wire,” while his jaw remained wired shut following the serious accident.According to Ye, it was not until 2023 that doctors finally identified the extent of the damage. “That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis,” he continued.