Kanye Extends An Olive Branch To Drake Over Kim Kardashian Rumors — Just In Time for the High Holidays

Kanye West, Drake Image by GETTY IMAGES/FORWARD MONTAGE

By Jenny Singer September 5, 2018

The bell of Elul tolls for all of us, and rap gods are no exception.

Just days before Rosh Hashanah, rap mogul Kanye West has reached out to musical peer Drake to bury the hatchet over conspiracy theories that, among other things, Drake had an affair with Kanye’s spouse Kim Kardashian. Kim herself came forward yesterday to quash these rumors, and Kanye, not one to stay silent when he could speak, reached out to Drake over Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The maverick artist aimed to bury a beef that has sizzled over a low burn between the two artists for some time concerning both personal and professional issues.

And honestly?

It’s a phenomenal apology.

For one thing, Kanye uses the word “apologize” (that’s more than Louis C.K. did when he acknowledged that he committed multiple instances of sexual misconduct!)

Let me start by apologizing for stepping on your release date in the first place … We were building a bond and working on music together including squashing the issues with Cudi at our office.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 5, 2018

Kanye takes responsibility. He accepts blame. He puts his action in context, without excusing them.

When I put the dates up I was a bit ramped up doing 25 tweets a day TMZ happened shortly after … I have to hop on the plane now… will type more when I land

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 5, 2018

plane taxiing for take off… because we spoke about doing Lift Yourself together I should have given you the opportunity for us to do this together before I released it

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 5, 2018

Delicately, he avoids implicating anyone else (namely the man with whom Drake has a true beef: rapper Pusha-T.)

I did not have any conversations about your child with Pusha. I don’t play with the idea of people’s children after I spoke to Wiz a few years earlier.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 5, 2018

I understand Pusha’s issues as a man if someone mentions your fiancé men go mask off. I’ve done the same myself at times. I love you and I love Pusha and we all have an admiration for each other’s craft.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 5, 2018

Most vitally, he invokes jedis. Then, he explains that he plans to come watch Drake perform, and pays him a compliment. He sets an explicit timeline for his plans to make amends.

This is all Jedi level. I will be coming to your show within the next seven days to give love and be inspired by the art you have created.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 5, 2018

Kanye West hurt a lot of people this year. But this mini-masterclass in teshuva [repentance] could be a new beginning for him — the man clearly wants to be inspired in the book of (the) life (of Pablo.)

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO