Rap Legend Luther Campbell Weighs Congressional Run After Years of Civic Work

Luther Campbell

Luther Campbell has spent most of his adult life being told to shut up — by police, by politicians, by prosecutors, and by critics who never imagined he would still be here long enough to be taken seriously.
So when Uncle Luke says he wants to listen, it lands differently.

On Monday, Campbell posted a message to Instagram saying he is considering a run for Congress in Florida’s 20th District, but emphasized that no decision would come before conversations with the people who live there.

He said he plans to meet residents where they are — at community meetings, churches, parks and neighborhood gatherings — to hear concerns and better understand what the district needs.

“I’m considering a run for Congress in CD-2,” Campbell wrote. “But before anything, I want to have real conversations with the people who live here.”

There was no campaign launch, no slogans, no platform rollout. Instead, Campbell framed the moment as exploratory — listening first, deciding later. For an artist whose name is permanently tied to free-speech battles and confrontations with authority, the tone was notably restrained.

It was also consistent with how he has operated for decades: show up, assess, then move.

The post came as Campbell steps away from his role as head football coach at Miami Edison Senior High School, where he spent six years rebuilding a program that had nearly collapsed. When he arrived in 2018, Edison had eight players and one win the previous season. Under Campbell, the Red Raiders progressed steadily, eventually reaching a regional championship game last season.

That coaching success was not an outlier. Campbell has spent years investing in youth development, most notably through the Liberty City Optimist Club he founded in 1994. The program has produced multiple national championships and a long list of professional athletes, including Chad Johnson, Antonio Brown, Lavonte David and Devonta Freeman.

His coaching résumé also includes stints as a defensive coordinator, internships with the New York Giants and volunteer work at college satellite camps, where he developed relationships with prominent coaches across the sport.

Campbell said stepping away from Edison was about focus — a recognition that running for Congress, even tentatively, requires time and attention he was unwilling to split at the expense of young athletes. He has set Feb. 15, 2026, as the date by which he will decide whether to formally enter the race.

The political backdrop makes the timing notable. Florida’s 20th District, a heavily Democratic, majority-Black seat long held by the late Rep. Alcee Hastings, is currently represented by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who is facing a federal indictment tied to alleged misuse of campaign and FEMA-related funds.

Campbell previously explored challenging Cherfilus-McCormick in 2024 but ultimately did not qualify for the ballot, despite forming a PAC and registering with the Federal Election Commission.

Ye Issues Public Apology for Antisemitic Remarks in Full-Page Wall Street Journal Ad

Ye  published a full-page newspaper apology Monday addressing prior antisemitic remarks and personal conduct.

One of the most public reckonings of Ye’s career did not arrive on social media, a livestream, or a surprise album drop. It arrived in print.
On Monday, Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — took out a full-page advertisement in Wall Street Journal to issue a sweeping apology for years of antisemitic statements, inflammatory symbolism and public behavior that fractured his standing in music, fashion and the broader culture.

“I lost touch with reality,” Ye wrote in the ad, attributing his actions to an undiagnosed brain injury from a car accident decades earlier and what he described as untreated bipolar disorder. He said the deeper neurological damage from the accident went unrecognized until 2023 and contributed to years of instability, denial and destructive behavior.

Ye’s letter in full (WSJ ad text)

Click to expand. Presented verbatim as published in the ad.

Read “To Those I’ve Hurt” (expand)

To Those I’ve Hurt:

Twenty-five years ago, I was in a car accident that broke my jaw and caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain. At the time, the focus was on the visible damage – the fracture, the swelling, and the immediate physical trauma. The deeper injury, the one inside my skull, went unnoticed.

Comprehensive scans were not done, neurological exams were limited, and the possibility of a frontal-lobe injury was never raised. It wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.

Bipolar disorder comes with its own defense system. Denial. When you’re manic, you don’t think you’re sick. You think everyone else is overreacting. You feel like you’re seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality you’re losing your grip entirely.

Once people label you as “crazy,” you feel as if you cannot contribute anything meaningful to the world. It’s easy for people to joke and laugh it off when in fact this is a very serious debilitating disease you can die from. According to the World Health Organization and Cambridge University, people with bipolar disorder have a life expectancy that is shortened by 10 to 15 years on average, and a 2x-3x higher all-cause mortality rate than the general population. This is on par with severe heart disease, type 1 diabetes, HIV, and cancer – all lethal and fatal if left untreated.

The scariest thing about this disorder is how persuasive it is when it tells you: You don’t need help. It makes you blind, but convinced you have insight. You feel powerful, certain, unstoppable.

I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.

In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it. One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments - many of which I still cannot recall - that led to poor judgment and reckless behavior that oftentimes feels like an out-of-body-experience. I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.

To the black community - which held me down through all of the highs and lows and the darkest of times. The black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.

In early 2025, I fell into a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life. As the situation became increasingly unsustainable, there were times I didn’t want to be here any more.

Having bipolar disorder is notable state of constant mental illness. When you go into a manic episode, you are ill at that point. When you are not in an episode, you are completely “normal”. And that’s when the wreckage from the illness hits the hardest. Hitting rock bottom a few months ago, my wife encouraged me to finally get help.

I have found comfort in Reddit forums of all places. Different people speak of being in manic or depressive episodes of a similar nature. I read their stories and realized that I was not alone. It’s not just me who ruins their entire life once a year despite taking meds every day and being told by the so-called best doctors in the world that I am not bipolar, but merely experiencing “symptoms of autism”.

My words as a leader in my community have global impact and influence. In my mania, I lost complete sight of that.

As I find my new baseline and new center through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise and clean living, I have newfound, much-needed clarity. I am pouring my energy into positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design and other new ideas to help the world.

I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness. I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”

With love,
Ye

“I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state,” he wrote. “It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”

The apology marks Ye’s most direct acknowledgment yet of the harm caused by his public embrace of antisemitic rhetoric, including past praise of Adolf Hitler and repeated use of swastika imagery — moments that led to widespread condemnation, severed partnerships and the near-collapse of his commercial empire.

The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks antisemitism, described the apology as overdue. In a statement the organization said the letter does not erase years of damage, citing Ye’s past remarks, imagery and references that caused “hurt and betrayal,” while adding that the true measure of accountability will be whether he refrains from such behavior going forward.

Ye’s letter also turned inward, detailing the mechanics of mania and denial. He described bipolar disorder as having “its own defense system,” writing that during manic episodes he believed he was seeing the world more clearly, when in reality he was losing control. He said a four-month manic episode in early 2025 led to paranoid and impulsive behavior that “destroyed my life” and pushed him to what he described as rock bottom.

In one of the more personal passages, Ye addressed the Black community directly, calling it “the foundation of who I am” and apologizing for letting it down. The acknowledgment reflected a recurring tension in his career — an artist whose early work centered Black vulnerability, faith and ambition, later becoming a source of public fracture and fatigue within the same community that first lifted him.

The ad also touched on a contradiction Ye has voiced publicly in recent years. He previously claimed to be on the autism spectrum rather than bipolar. In the letter, he said reading accounts from people experiencing manic episodes helped him recognize his condition and feel less isolated, ultimately pushing him toward treatment.

The timing of the apology is notable. Ye’s next album, “Bully,” is listed on Spotify with a Friday release date, though no official rollout details have been confirmed. Whether the apology is received as a genuine step toward accountability or as part of a familiar cycle of confession and return remains unresolved.

Nicki Minaj Averts Forced Sale of Hidden Hills Home After Satisfying $500,000 Judgment

Nicki Minaj speaks with attendees during AmericaFest 2025 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix on Dec. 21, 2025. Minaj recently satisfied a court judgment tied to a civil lawsuit, avoiding the forced sale of her Hidden Hills, California, home. (Photo by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Nicki Minaj has avoided the forced sale of her Hidden Hills, California, home after satisfying a court judgment tied to a long-running civil lawsuit involving her husband, Kenneth Petty.

Court records show the rapper paid roughly $500,000 to resolve a judgment awarded to Thomas Weidenmuller, a former member of her security team. The payment was made ahead of a scheduled court appearance this week, closing out a financial dispute that had placed Minaj’s estimated $20 million Los Angeles-area mansion at risk.

The judgment stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Weidenmuller, who alleged he was assaulted by Petty during a 2019 incident while working for Minaj overseas. A court ultimately ruled in Weidenmuller’s favor, ordering Minaj to pay approximately $503,000. Failure to satisfy the judgment could have triggered enforcement actions, including the potential sale of the property.

Weidenmuller’s attorney confirmed the judgment was satisfied the night before the scheduled hearing. It remains unclear whether the full amount was paid in a single transaction or resolved through a negotiated settlement.

The lawsuit — and its resolution — arrives within a broader public context that has increasingly surrounded Minaj in recent years. Petty’s criminal history has long been part of that conversation. He was convicted in 1995 of attempted rape in New York, served prison time and is required to register as a sex offender. He was later convicted of manslaughter in 2006 and served additional time in prison. While Petty was not a named party in the civil judgment, the allegations at the center of the case stemmed from conduct attributed to him while employed as part of Minaj’s security detail.

The legal resolution also comes amid renewed scrutiny of Minaj’s public conduct, particularly on social media. In recent days, the rapper has drawn criticism for confrontational posts aimed at journalists and public figures, including Don Lemon, following his reporting on protests at a Minnesota church. Lemon responded by questioning Minaj’s understanding of journalism, a rebuttal that further fueled discussion around her increasingly adversarial relationship with the media.

Minaj, 43, has not publicly commented on the payment or the conclusion of the case.