Rapper Kanye West has responded to allegations that a statement he made in a recent interview was anti-Semitic.

During a radio interview with Power 105 in late November West stated:

"Black people don't have the same level of connections as Jewish people. Black people don't have the same connections as oil people."

Following this comment Anti-Defamation League Director Abraham H Foxman criticised the ‘Yeezus’ star by saying:

"This is classic anti-Semitism. There it goes again, the age-old canard that Jews are all-powerful and control the levers of power in government. As a celebrity with a wide following, Kanye West should know better."

Kanye West has now expressed regret over his original statement and explained the meaning of his views whilst talking to Chicago’s B96 radio station.

36-year-old Kanye said: "I thought that I was giving a compliment. But if anything, it came off more ignorant."

He continued: "When I said this comment about Jews having money and blacks not having money, I think that it was kind of like an ignorant compliment... I don't know how being told you have money is like an insult, that would be like if [somebody] complimented black guys and said, 'All black guys got big penises'. You don't want to be the black guy that raises your hand, like, 'No! That's not true. I got proof.'"

The ‘Bound 2’ star finished by saying:  "I thought by saying everybody had money that would be a compliment. It was an ignorant compliment. Maybe I would like to take that statement away."

Watch a recent interview with Kanye West below: