The latest development of the Kim and Kanye saga has been the most public yet, thanks to Kanye’s highly active Instagram. Although Ye himself just ended his own fling with Julia Fox, he has been very vocal about his disapproval of his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian’s, relationship with Pete Davidson. Kanye has unfortunately been on the receiving end of mental health jokes for years now, and this so-called “manic” episode has given a lot of people deja-vu. He has gone on Twitter and Instagram rants before with very similar chaotic energy, and his known struggle with bipolar disorder is often pinned as the cause. While there is no excuse for mocking someone’s mental health as they go through a tough time, this article isn’t about protecting Kanye- it’s about protecting Kim.
When you read the text from these since-deleted Instagram posts, you see a common theme. They are attacks on Pete Davidson, Kim’s parenting, and her family.
“(PETE DAVIDSON) NO YOU WILL NEVER MEET MY CHILDREN!”
“SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST DIVORCE I NEED TO KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO ABOUT MY DAUGHTER BEING PUT ON TIK TOK AGAINST MY WILL ?”
“KIM ACCUSED ME OF PUTTING A HIT OUT ON HER…THESE IDEAS CAN ACTUALLY GET SOMEONE LOCKED UP THEY PLAY LIKE THAT WITH BLACK MEN’S LIVES”
“I DON’T HAVE BEEF WITH KIM I LOVE MY FAMILY SO STOP THAT NARRATIVE… WE HAVE A PUBLIC RELATIONSHIP BECAUSE WE ARE PUBLIC FIGURES… SOMETIMES PEOPLE CALL ME CRAZY BUT TO BE IN LOVE IS TO BE CRAZY”
These are just a few examples of the public outbursts that he has put out against Kim, Pete, and his own family. He created a poster mimicking Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, with him on one side and Kim and Pete on the other. He also posted private conversations with Kim and Pete, as well as the support he got from other celebrities such as Dr. Dre and Candace Owens, who justified him as being right for fighting for his family. Kanye is now claiming that in relation to his posts about Pete, “This is not harassment. This is payback” because Pete has made jokes about Kanye’s mental health on SNL. In a desperate attempt to get him to stop posting, Kim texted him saying “There are dangerous people out there and this is scary and it doesn’t have to be.” The reason this Kanye outburst feels different than others is that just like Kim said, it’s dangerous. Many Twitter users pointed out how this situation relates to domestic abuse.
The way he switches from hating Kim to asking for her back, to bashing her relationship, and everything in between, is all too similar to what thousands of women experience when trying to leave a toxic relationship. Yes, Kanye is an individual struggling with bipolar disorder who needs to seek help, but there is no excuse for putting your wife and family in danger. He is using Kim’s relationship and his separation from his kids to gain leverage in a divorce. We’ve all seen the jokes about how these Instagram posts have been “deleted by Kaye’s manager who’s had enough,” or that, “these posts are just how all of our spams look when we go through our own manic episodes,” but what does this say about the way we view domestic abuse? How quick are we to eat up this content to laugh at Kanye, rather than pause and think about Kim? Many domestic abuse victims feel that the abuse they experience is excused by their partner’s personal issues, so they are left invalidated and alone in their battle for safety. This is an opportunity for us as a society to side with Kim on behalf of women everywhere.