Kanye West has apologised for having "questioned" the death of George Floyd and said that he now knows "how it feels to have a knee on [his] neck".
The rapper, 45 - who is now known as Ye - prompted a backlash earlier this month when he suggested that Floyd's death was related to drugs rather than police brutality.
Floyd died, aged 46, after being arrested by police officers including Derek Chauvin, 46, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. It sparked protests around the world.
Chauvin was later convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after kneeling on Floyd's neck during the arrest.
West suggested on the Drink Champs podcast that Floyd's death was related to fentanyl, rather than from having had Chauvin's knee on his neck.
Floyd's family are said to be considering taking legal action against West over such comments.
West - whose controversial actions in recent weeks have included wearing White Lives Matter t-shirts - has now issued an apology, as reported by Buzzipper.
He told paparazzi earlier this week: "When I see that video as a Black person, it hurts my feelings. And I know that police do attack and that America is generally racist".
The Grammy Award winner continued by saying that he "understands" that the "idea" of Black Lives Matter made people "feel good together" as a community.
He added: "So when I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt my people. I want to apologise. Because God has showed me by what Adidas is doing, by what the media is doing, I know how it feels to have a knee on my neck now."
During his recent interaction with paparazzi, as reported by the outlet, West expressed gratitude to God for "humbling" him and letting him know "how it really felt".
He further stated: "Because how could the richest Black [man] ever be humbled other than to be made to not be a billionaire in front of everyone off one comment."
Adidas recently cut ties with West after he made anti-semitic comments. The company has ended its nine-year partnership with his Yeezy brand of products.
And as referenced by West, it has been reported that he has dropped off Forbes magazine's billionaires list following the termination of his partnership with Adidas.
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