Kanye West says he’s ‘absolutely not’ sorry for antisemitic remarks, but apologises for hurting people

Rapper initially doubled down on his comments saying he ‘fought fire with fire’

Kanye West apologised for causing “hurt and confusion” with antisemitic comments he made last week.

Appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Wednesday (19 October), the host asked the rapper whether he regretted threatening to go “DEFCON 3 on Jewish people”.

West initially doubled down on his comments, replying: “No, absolutely not.”

Morgan then asked if he knew the comments were racist, to which West confirmed: “Yes, that’s why I said it... I fought fire with fire. I’m not here to get hosed down.”

Later in the show, though, West did offer some form of apology, saying: “I will say, I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the DEFCON... the confusion that I caused. I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I’m sorry for the families that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through.

“Hurt people hurt people – and I was hurt.”

During his 15 October appearance on the Drink Champs podcast, West blamed “Jewish media” and “Jewish Zionists” for numerous alleged wrongdoings, saying that “Jewish people have owned the Black voice” and that “the Jewish community, especially in the music industry… they’ll take us and milk us till we die”.

Piers Morgan (left) and Kanye West on TalkTV (TalkTV)

Earlier this week, West also claimed that he “doesn’t believe” in the term antisemitism.

Furthermore, during the Drink Champs podcast, West sparked new controversy by claiming that George Floyd died from the drug fentanyl and that a police officer’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that”.

The mother of Floyd’s daughter is now suing West for $250m over his claim.