Ye, the provocative rapper formerly known as Kanye West, explains himself once again — this time in a full-page ad in Monday’s issue of the Wall Street Journal.
The Grammy-winning musician penned a lengthy apology in the advertisement, voicing regrets for his social media attacks on Jewish people and his public embracing of Nazism in recent years. He began his letter detailing injuries from a 2002 car accident, including a frontal-lobe injury he says led to his bipolar type-1 diagnosis. Ye wrote that, in the throes of the disorder, “I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika.”
He said: “I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret.”
The “Power” and “I Love Kanye” musician, 48, has long had a history of stirring controversy, but notably began facing waves of scrutiny for embracing white supremacy, fawning over Adolf Hitler and threatening violence to Jewish people on social media in late 2022. Though his professional life seemed to take blows, West continued embracing Nazi symbolism in the following years, in 2025 selling a swastika-bearing T-shirt and releasing a single titled “Heil Hitler.” West had also allegedly told a former employee, who is Jewish, that he was a “Nazi” and compared himself to their leaderAdolf Hitler, according to a lawsuit filed last year.
“Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst,” he continued. “You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to love someone who was at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.”
The musician said his disorder led him to moments of “poor judgment and reckless behavior,” some he said he can’t recall. The rapper said he is “committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change” and denied that he is “a Nazi or an antisemite.”
West also extended his apologies to the Black community, which he wrote is the “foundation of who I am.”
West (he legally changed his name to Ye in 2021) wrote that early last year he experienced a “four-month manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.” He said there were moments during this episode when “I didn’t want to be here anymore.” West said after “hitting rock bottom” he began seeking help, with the encouragement of wife Bianca Censori. He said he also has since found solace in Reddit, where he said users shared their experiences with manic and depressive episodes.
West said he is moving forward with “much-needed clarity” reached by a routine of medication, therapy, exercise and “clean living.” He added that he is also focused on “positive, meaningful art” including music, clothing and other ventures “to help the world.” He said he is not seeking “sympathy, or a free pass,” but rather forgiveness and patience “as I find my way home.”
West previously opened up about his mental state last year, telling “The Download” podcast that he learned “it’s really a case of autism that I have.” At the time, he also told podcast host Justin Laboy that he had stopped taking his bipolar medication since learning it wasn’t the “right diagnosis.”
Days after his podcast interview, West fired off several antisemitic tweets that have since been deleted. In other posts, he also called for the release of Sean “Diddy” Combs amid the mogul’s sex trafficking case and declared his “dominion” over Censori. Following those posts, Ye returned to X (formerly Twitter) and thanked the app’s owner Elon Musk for giving him a platform.
“It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board,” the rapper said at the time.
As a first-time visitor to Las Vegas, there were expectations to the vibrant desert city with its towering mega resorts, yet there was something that completely took me by surprise
I went to Las Vegas for the first time, and something took me by surprise (Image: Amy Jones)
Las Vegas is a city like no other, with its iconic Strip boasting mega resorts, buzzing casinos, and incredible entertainment venues, offering 24/7 nightlife every day of the week. It never darkens, with its glimmering signs lighting up the roads, yet there was one element of ‘Sin City’ that surprised me, and it was far from what I was expecting.
I was lucky enough to visit Las Vegas for the first time this month – the ideal time to beat the January blues! I was staying for four nights and around five days, excited to experience and immerse myself in the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’.
My first sight of the shimmering city came when I landed on Wednesday evening, capturing a glimpse of the towering buildings lining the Las Vegas Strip and the neighbourhoods scattered beyond in the desert. At first, I was bewildered by the close proximity of the Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) – we were landing adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip, and on my right, I had a spectacular view of The Sphere!
In other locations, airports are typically situated farther from the main city, so the location of the LAS airport caught me a little off guard. I found myself in the heart of it all from the moment we touched down. But that was just the start.
As I travelled to my hotel and later walked along the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, I was surprised by how much smaller it felt than I had expected. Having never travelled to the Nevada city before, I thought it would feel like a gigantic city, where you get lost finding the nearest supermarket or need public transport to explore different areas.
Yet, what I found was that the span of the Strip, despite its enormous towering resorts and gigantic landmarks, was more compact than I had imagined. There was so much to see and explore, but with its Strip measuring approximately 4.2 miles, you could easily walk its length, something I really didn’t think about until I saw it for myself.
Although it would take around two hours to walk the extent of it, it felt like nothing compared to the streets of New York or London. The population of Las Vegas was 641,903 at the 2020 census, but is thought to have increased since then.
Meanwhile, the Las Vegas metropolitan area has an estimated 2.4 million residents across an estimated 7,891 square miles. This is in contrast to New York, which has an estimated population of 8,478,072, as of July 2024, spanning across a whopping 300.46 square miles.
While I think the Strip was more compact than I had expected, the city stretches far beyond the glitz with neighbourhoods scattered across the desert right to the edge of the mountain backdrop. Plus, there is undoubtedly a lengthy list of attractions to explore in Las Vegas and plenty to do, whether you’re looking to soak in history at the Mob Museum, ride the High Roller at The LINQ, take a Maverick Helicopter ride by night or listen to free music in its popular Fremont Street.
Elsewhere during my trip, I was impressed that I could walk freely through hotels and resorts, despite not being a resident there. Inside, I discovered vibrant, bustling casinos, restaurants, bars, and attractions that felt like I was on board a cruise ship.
Plus, many of the resorts are linked together, so you rarely need to leave as you wander through them, admiring their distinct features, atmospheres, and themes. This made it even easier to travel through the Strip, something that also took me by surprise.
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where the college football season has finally, officially come to an end. Indiana is our national champion — a sentence I never thought, as a long-ago IU sports columnist, that I would write under any circumstances. Many have tried since last Monday to make sense of what Indiana’s title says about this new era of college football. But in truth, I don’t know that we learned much more than we already knew.
A great quarterback is, as always, a must. Winning at the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball, is essential. Older, more experienced players — like Indiana’s fleet of 24-year olds — are usually better than younger, inexperienced ones, especially in this age of the transfer portal. And a great coach, in the college game, can make up for pretty much anything.
Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan?
None of those lessons are really all that revelatory. That doesn’t mean they’re easy to apply. But what Indiana has shown definitively this season is that more programs are capable of winning a national title now than ever before. USC has always been among those annual contenders. Only now, the waiting room is a bit more crowded than before.
But with the college football season firmly in the rearview mirror, let’s set aside football briefly to zoom in this week on USC’s basketball programs, both of which are facing a make-or-break stretch of their schedules.
The return of Alijah Arenas was supposed to be USC’s saving grace midway through the conference slate, as he swooped in just in time for the home stretch. But nothing came smoothly the five-star freshman last week. After Arenas left Galen Center gasping with an early, 360 lay-in, he hit just one of his remaining 10 shots from the field against Northwestern. Then on Sunday, he made three for 12.
He was understandably rusty. Coach Eric Musselman took the blame after the game for putting too much on the freshman’s plate in his debut. But I could understand why he played Arenas as much as he could. Because, in many ways, it feels like the rest of USC’s season hinges on the freshman finding his stride as fast as possible.
Sunday’s road win at Wisconsin, however, offered an alternative case. Arenas continued to struggle, but USC’s offense rolled on without him. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 29, and Ezra Ausar scored 17 as the Trojans charged back to beat the Badgers in front of a hostile crowd.
The win was USC’s first against a Quad 1 team and arguably its biggest statement of the season. Still, the Trojans rank 51st in the NCAA’s NET rankings and are firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble, according to ESPN’s bracketology.
Sunday offered a glimpse of what they’re capable of. But so did Wednesday’s loss to Northwestern.
The truth is that the Trojans, especially in this injury-ravaged form, have to play their best to beat teams like Wisconsin. They have to rely heavily on Baker-Mazara, who has been anything but reliable with his performance the past month, and hope that someone else, such as backup point guard Jordan Marsh, scores in bunches.
In the wake of Wednesday’s loss, it was clear there was frustration in the locker room.
“This is all about habits and consistency,” Ausar said. “That’s where we lack — all around as a team.”
The margin for error is similarly thin for Lindsay Gottlieb and the USC women, who sit at 11-9 and 12th in the Big Ten after a narrow loss to Michigan on Sunday. But the women of Troy are still 25th in the NET rankings, a point that Gottlieb was sure to reiterate to me when we spoke on Friday.
I asked her what silver linings she could see after losing five of six.
“None of [our losses] have been terrible relative to resume. Three of them, we didn’t have Kennedy [Smith]. We still had big leads in some. That doesn’t absolve us from not taking them to the finish line, but what you take from it, other than [the] UCLA [game], we’re not getting blown out.”
Kara Dunn has been on a roll for USC.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Five of the Trojans’ last eight opponents are currently ranked in the top 20, so the recent losing streak doesn’t mean USC is a lost cause the rest of the way. What it does mean is that the ceiling of this year’s squad is looking lower than we might have thought it would be without JuJu Watkins.
That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise with its superstar sidelined. But USC has pieces that could have helped replace her in the aggregate. Freshman Jazzy Davidson continues to improve. Kara Dunn has been a revelation recently on offense, having scored 21 or more in each of her last six games. Smith is still the same lockdown defender as ever.
It’s elsewhere that USC’s roster is lacking this season. And like with the Trojan men, there aren’t many ways to rearrange the hand that Gottlieb has been dealt. The frontcourt has little in the way of firepower (USC’s four-big rotation has taken just 164 shots combined this season, eight fewer than Londynn Jones on her own), and the point guard position has been a problem at times, too.
Both teams still have a path to the NCAA tournament. Both offer some reason to believe. But as both enter a critical stretch of their season, there’s still plenty of time left to stumble as well.
Eric Gentry after last season’s win over Nebraska.
(Bonnie Ryan / Associated Press)
—The Gary Patterson hire could be a huge success. There’s also some risk baked in. Patterson’s credentials, among the coaches accessible to USC in its search, are unmatched. Ask anyone who has been around college football, and they will tell you that he’s one of the best evaluators of defensive talent this century. Few coaches have gotten more out of less on that end than Patterson. But if you’re searching for reasons to be skeptical, the fact that he hasn’t been a full-time coach since 2021 — or that he left his last consultant gig at Baylor right before the 2024 season — might give you some pause. A lot has changed about coaching college football since then. Even at the time, the perception at Texas Christian was that his tenure there had grown stale. Whether the game has passed him by or not, we’ll have to wait and see. But from 2017 through 2020, Patterson still had arguably the Big 12’s best defense, ranking in the top 30 nationally in yards allowed all four seasons. It sounds like he’s been itching to be back in an on-field role. Maybe, at USC, he’ll be reinvigorated. Because if he can get his Trojan defense to that level, USC will be in the Playoff.
—The College Football Playoff is sticking to 12 teams … for now at least. This was the expected outcome, given the ongoing disagreement between the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference over the format. The Big Ten wanted 24 (!!) teams. The SEC wanted 16. The Big Ten wanted more automatic qualifiers. The SEC wanted more at-large bids. The stalemate leaves us with the status quo, which is … really not that bad. A 24-team playoff would totally de-emphasize the regular season to a degree that I personally think would have a negative impact on the game. There’s already a calendar issue, as is, with 12 teams. Imagine how expansion might make that worse.
—Remember Abdul-Malik McClain, the former USC linebacker arrested for EDD fraud? I wrote pretty extensively five years ago on the strange saga that started with his brother, wideout Munir McClain, being suspended from USC’s football team suddenly and without any clear reason. As it turned out, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, it was his brother, Abdul-Malik, who was the target of federal scrutiny for a scheme that sought to defraud the government of over $1 million in COVID-related unemployment benefits. Abdul-Malik McClain, who the DOJ says was responsible for at least three dozen fraudulent applications, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to one count of felony mail fraud. He was finally sentenced last Tuesday to time served and ordered to pay $228,995. But he’ll pay a fraction of that. The Court, in its opinion, ordered McClain to pay just $50 per month.
—Eric Gentry’s measurables at the Shrine Bowl were even more insane than you’d expect. When I first wrote about Gentry, upon his transfer to USC a few years back, I wrote how there wasn’t a linebacker like him in the NFL. His most recent measurables bare that out. He ranks in the 99th percentile in height (6-6 ⅜) and in arm length (35 ¼”), and in the 96th percentile in hand size (10 ½”)
—2026 hoops signees Adonis and Darius Ratliff both shot up 247’s recruiting rankings this week. The twin sons of former NBA player Theo Ratliff moved up 34 spots and 20 spots, respectively, in the site’s latest re-rank. Musselman and his staff were high on both early on – seems like others are getting on board with their evaluation.
Times of Troy survey
After an anxious few weeks for Trojan fans, USC finally has its next defensive coordinator. So after all that anticipation, how do you feel about the Gary Patterson hire?
—Thrilled! We got a Hall of Famer! —Cautiously optimistic it could work —Mildly concerned it will fail —Convinced this will be a disaster
USC’s women’s golf team, which opens the spring season ranked No. 2 in the nation, kicked off the spring with a 3 ½ to 1 ½ match play victory over crosstown rival UCLA.
USC did so without its top-ranked player, Jasmine Koo, in the five-woman field. The sophomore ranks No. 9 in the nation at the start of spring. Instead, Elise Lee (No. 16), Sarah Hammett, and Kylie Chong (No. 44) won to edge out UCLA.
George R. R. Martin at the world premiere of “A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms’ in Berlin.
(Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press)
When HBO decided to green-light a half-dozen ideas for “Game of Thrones” spinoffs, the executives in that conference room were probably imagining someone like yours truly in front of my TV, devouring whatever they put in front of me. So I was pretty much guaranteed to gravitate towards “A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms,” the latest Thrones spin-off to premiere on HBO.
But what I didn’t expect was how different the tone would be in this slice of the Thrones universe. The story follows Ser Dunk, a bumbling and abnormally large hedge knight, who resolves to enter a tournament that seems impossible for him to win. The show is much lighter and funnier than its predecessor, and Dunk might actually be a character you’d want to root for. It’s too early to know where this spinoff is headed. But the pilot gave me enough to get me invested.
Until next time …
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Late in the mess that was the Rams’ final game of the season, Sean McVay was seen frustratingly burying his face in his play card.
That couldn’t hide the truth.
The Rams’ 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in the NFC championship game must be draped on the deflated shoulders of the Rams’ resident genius.
As blasphemous as it sounds when referencing one of the greatest coaches in Los Angeles sports history, this one was on McVay.
A day after his 40th birthday, McVay coached like he was no longer the child prodigy, but instead an aging leader who leaves himself open to second-guessing.
McVay has rarely deserved criticism in his nine successful seasons here. But in the wake of an afternoon at Seattle’s deafening Lumen Field that should have propelled the Rams to the Super Bowl, this is one of those times.
A confusing final possession of the first half. Another special teams miscue. A bad decision to pass up a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter.
It all added up to negatively impact a game the Rams could have won, and should have won.
“I love this team and I wasn’t ready to stop working with them,” McVay said. “This was a special year, it’s hard to fathom that it’s over.”
It shouldn’t be over. The Rams gained 479 yards against the league’s top-rated defense. They only committed four penalties. The offense didn’t have a turnover. Matthew Stafford was brilliant, 374 yards, three touchdowns, countless big throws.
The Rams were great, but during the biggest moments, they got goofy, and basically handed the Super Bowl invitation to the Seahawks on a grass-stained platter.
What was McVay thinking?
Rams coach Sean McVay watches from the sideline during the fourth quarter of a 31-27 loss to the Seahawks in the NFC championship game Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Begin with the Rams’ possession at the end of the first half, after they scored a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead and their running game was rolling and they had a chance to capitalize on their momentum.
But instead of continuing to pound the ball and at least run down the clock, they threw twice in three plays, both incompletions, and had to punt after just 39 seconds, thus giving the ball back to the Seahawks with 54 seconds remaining in the half. Sure enough, the Seahawks then went 74 yards in 34 seconds, highlighted by a 42-yard pass from reborn Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba against Kam Curl and ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass to an uncovered Smith-Njigba to give them a 17-13 halftime lead.
The strategy by McVay was so flawed, it was actually criticized by Tom Brady on Fox, and Brady rarely criticizes anybody.
“The finality of all of it, I didn’t really expect this,” McVay said. “We had our chances … a couple of critical errors that ended up costing us. … I’m pretty numb.”
The next mistake occurred at the start of the second half with — surprise, surprise — more special teams struggles. This time it was Xavier Smith muffing a punt and Dareke Young recovering on the Rams’ 17-yard line. On the next play, Darnold hit former UCLA star Jake Bobo for a touchdown pass ahead of Quentin Lake to give the Seahawks a 24-13 lead.
“It was costly,” McVay said. “That was a tough one.”
Share via
Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC championship game at Lumen Field.
Special teams have haunted McVay for a couple of years. They were so bad earlier this season that he dumped the coordinator. It didn’t matter. They still stink. Coaches always talk about the three phases of the game. McVay clearly doesn’t have a handle on this third phase.
Even with all this, the Rams were driving in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead or at least make a dent in a four-point deficit when another decision went bad.
The Rams had rolled 84 yards in 14 plays and were facing fourth and four at the Seattle six-yard line. There was 4:59 left in the game. That was plenty of time to kick the field goal, take the points, then lean on the defense to stop mistake-prone Darnold long enough to drive back downfield for the winning field goal.
But, no. McVay decided to go for it, and Stafford ended up throwing a pass to a blanketed Terrance Ferguson, the ball fell incomplete, and the Seahawks held the ball until the last 25 seconds.
Take the points! C’mon man, take the points!
If the Rams were within a field goal of winning, the pressure on the Seahawks would have been enormously heightened and the momentum of the ensuing drive would have felt entirely different and even if the Rams still only got the ball back with 25 seconds left and no timeouts … that’s long enough for a field-goal drive.
Rams coach Sean McVay, right, shakes hands with Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald after the Rams’ 31-27 loss in the NFC championship game Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Granted, winning this game was a tough task. The Rams were trying to become only the sixth team to win three consecutive road playoff games. But they seemed up to the challenge and seemed destined to win … until they didn’t.
“A lot of resolve, a lot of resilience from our group, we just came up short,” McVay said.
The Rams will be back. Stafford has given no indication that he’s retiring, Puka Nacua isn’t going anywhere, the heart of the young defense returns and, of course, McVay is back.
One assumes his numbness will eventually disappear. One trusts it will be replaced by some of that resolve and resilience.
