Who is Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto? The rabbi Kanye West apologized to also reportedly met with LeBron James during his Nike negotiation

Rapper Kanye West has recently met Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto to apologize for the anti-Semitic statements in the past. The same has been confirmed by the rabbi's official social media handle. For the unversed, Ye made several antisemitic comments earlier this year and even dropped a track titled Heil Hitler.

According to the tweet, the meeting happened on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. The post suggested that Rabbi Pinto said,

"A person is not defined by his mistakes, but by the way he chooses to correct them. This is the true strength of man: The ability to return, to learn, and to build bridges of love and peace."

Kanye reportedly sought forgiveness and was present there to begin a "new chapter of repentance and love among human beings." The conclusion of the meeting was to hope for a future with mutual respect.

Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto is an Israeli-Moroccan Orthodox rabbi, known to operate an organization called Mosdot Shuva Israel. Born in September 1973, Rabbi Pinto was named as one of the ten richest rabbis in Israel in 2012, according to Forbes Israel. In September 2014, he was found guilty of bribing a police official and was even sentenced to a year in jail.

According to Times Now News, after getting out of prison, the rabbi moved to Morocco in 2017. In 2019, he reportedly became the Chief Rabbi of Morocco. Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto also reportedly met NBA superstar LeBron James at Jeffrey Schottenstein in May 2022. Previously, a photo of Rabbi Pinto and James in an apparent business meeting, was exclusively obtained by TMZ in 2019. 

What did Kanye West tell Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto during their meeting?

As previously mentioned, Kanye West, aka Ye, met Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto to express his apologies for the offensive statements the rapper made earlier this year. A video was shared on the rabbi's official X account. In the clip, Ye said that he felt blessed to be sitting in infront of Rabbit Pinto and showing remorse for his remarks.

Kanye West further admitted that he was going through many issues at the time. He additionally stated,

"It's a big deal for me as a man to come and take accountability for all the things that I've said, and I really just appreciate you embracing me with open arms and allowing me to make amends. And this is the beginning and the first steps."

Speaking of the reason behind making the questionable remarks, Kanye told the rabbi,

"I was dealing with some various issues, bipolar also, so it would take the ideas I had and take them to an extreme where I would forget about the protection of the people around me, or myself."

The Jerusalem Post reported that this year was not the first time that Ye has made such comments on social media. According to the reports, since 2022, he had posted a series of rants about the Jewish community. As for the current meeting between the rabbi and the rapper, the former embraced Kanye West.

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto further squeezed Kanye's hands and wished that only positive things would happen to the rapper from now on.

The meeting between the rabbi and Kanye West reportedly happened through a translator.