Singer Xavier Naidoo admitted in a video message on YouTube that he had gotten lost in conspiracy stories.
"I have opened up to theories, perspectives and sometimes also groups, from which I distance myself without any ifs and buts and break away," said the 50-year-old in the little more than three-minute video titled "#OneLove", which was released on Tuesday published on his YouTube channel.
He was "blinded" by conspiracy stories, didn't question them enough and allowed himself to be "instrumentalised" in some cases.
"Unfortunately, I only realized that now.
I said and did things that I regret today," said the musician from Mannheim.
Xavier Naidoo has appeared with so-called Reichsbürger in recent years and spread theories of the QAnon movement.
Lines of text brought him accusations of racism, which the singer himself rejected.
In the past, he has defended himself against criticism that he was close to right-wing extremist conspiracy stories.
In December 2021, the constitutional court in Karlsruhe ruled that a speaker could call him an anti-Semite.
Xavier Naidoo justified his change of heart with the war in Ukraine.
"The world seems to have been turned upside down and I wondered how it could have come to this."
He spoke a lot to those affected – and had to face critical questions about statements he made, for which he was grateful.
"I realized the wrong paths I was on and that I've made a lot of mistakes in recent years." He became aware that he had irritated and provoked his family, friends and fans with "disturbing statements for which I want to apologize," Naidoo said.