Barring any further cancellations, Ye is slated to perform this summer in Georgia, Albania, Portugal, Spain, and Florida. Just a week ago, he headlined a concert in Istanbul that attracted over 100,000 attendees. In April, the rapper also took the stage in Los Angeles, marking his first full U.S. performance since 2021.
Gideon Querido van Frank, affiliated with the Center for Information and Documentation Israel, which organized the Saturday protest, expressed disappointment that the majority of demonstrators were Jewish. “Where are all my friends from before?” he asked. “I feel lonely.”
In January, Ye placed a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal to apologize for his antisemitic remarks, marking his second public apology since 2023. The ad referenced a four‑month period in 2025 that he characterized as “a manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior,” during which he retracted his earlier apology.
“I am not a Nazi or an antisemite,” he wrote in the Journal, attributing his conduct to untreated bipolar I disorder at a time when he had ceased taking medication.
Many attendees in Arnhem on Saturday seemed to attribute Ye’s antisemitic comments to his bipolar disorder. Merchandise available included a $58 T‑shirt that featured a four‑letter expletive denouncing the condition.
“The atmosphere is positive,” said fan Melanie van der Velden, 20, who noted that most attendees were there to support Ye’s music rather than his previous conduct.
“I don’t think people are focusing on it,” she added.
