Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has revealed that he was under the influence of alcohol when he posted an antisemitic tweet in Oct. 2022.
In an episode of Candace Owens‘ podcast, Candace, which was filmed in 2022 but released on Aug. 7, the rapper admitted he had been drinking when he posted the highly offensive statement.
“I was drinking when I put up the DEFCON tweet,” Ye explained on the podcast. “You wanna know what alcohol I had inside me? Hennessy. It turns us grey. The demons [come out].”
Ye told Owens that he hadn’t revealed this information earlier as he didn’t want his words to be “discredited” because he still believed they reflected “truth.”
The Yeezy founder posted the hateful tweet in Oct. 2022, which read: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”
“The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
The tweet led to West’s immediate suspension from the platform, and led to major public backlash and the loss of several business partnerships for Ye. Companies like Adidas, Balenciaga, and Gap cutting ties with the rapper. His loss of earnings from his lucrative partnership with Adidas meant he lost his billionaire status.
West initially refused to retract his statement. In an interview with Piers Morgan amid the drama, he stated he was “absolutely not” sorry for his comments but expressed regret for the hurt he caused.
In a rare moment of contrition, Kanye later issued an apology to the Jewish community in Dec. 2023.
The post, written in Hebrew, stated, “I sincerely apologise to the Jewish community for any ‘unintended outburst.’ I did not intend to hurt or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.” However, the apology has since been deleted.
It’s first time West has attributed questionable behavior to Hennessy.
At the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, he made reference to his interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech in 2009, where he seemed to lump some of the blame on drinking Hennessy.
“If I had to do it all over again, what would I have done? Would I have worn a leather shirt? Would I have drunk half a bottle of Hennessy and given the rest of it to the audience?” he asked while accepting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.