Kim Kardashian is coming to her husband’s defense as fans and friends alike raise concerns over the rapper’s mental health. The TV personality issued her first public statement on Instagram early Wednesday, less than a week after her husband held a headline-making campaign rally in South Carolina.
“As many of you know, Kanye has bi-polar disorder. Anyone who has this or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand,” Kim wrote on her Instagram stories. “I’ve never spoken publicly about how this has affected us at home because I am very protective of our children and Kanye’s right to privacy when it comes to his health. But today, I feel like I should comment on it because of the stigma and misconceptions about mental health.”
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“Those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behavior know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor. People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.”
“I understand Kanye is subject to criticism because he is a public figure and his actions at times can cause strong opinions and emotions,” Kim continued. “He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bi-polar disorder. Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times (sic) do not align with his intentions.”
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“Living with bi-polar disorder does not diminish or invalidate his dreams and his creative ideas, no matter how big or unobtainable they may feel to some. That is part of his genius and as we have all witnessed, many of his big dreams have come true.”
Kardashian also thanked those who had issued their support for her husband, and urged others to practice compassion.
“We as a society talk about giving grace to the issue of mental health as a whole, however we should also give it to the individuals who are living with it in times when they need it the most,” she wrote in part. “Thank you for those who have expressed concern for Kanye’s well being and for your understanding,”
Kim’s statement came the day after Kanye issued a series of since-deleted tweets aimed at his wife and mother-in-law, one of which claimed he was seeking to divorce Kim.
“They tried to fly in with 2 doctors to 51/50 me I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf (sic) for ‘prison reform,’” one tweet read in part, according to screenshots taken by Access Hollywood. The tweet was an apparent reference to Kim’s crusade for justice reform, which led her to meet rapper Meek Mill in 2018. The two spoke at the Inaugural Criminal Justice Reform Summit in Los Angeles the same year, and Mill later praised Kardashian for her work on the cause.
“Kim is a friend of mine. We always talk about everything that’s going on in the system and I think she’s done a lot of good work,” the “Going Bad” singer told Access Hollywood in 2019. “She’s done more work than other people who have platforms who might even came from that situation. So big ups to her and big ups to everybody who’s working for a better cause. Not even just for reform.”
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But the nature of Kim and Meek’s apparent meeting at the Waldorf, which Kanye referenced in his tweet, still isn’t clear.
The “I Love It” singer also went on to bash his mother-in-law Kris Jenner in a series of since-deleted tweets after he revealed she tried to “51/50” him, a seeming reference to being involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility.
“Kris I’m in Cody if your (sic) not planning another one of your children’s playboy shoots,” one tweet read in part. Kanye later called his mother-in-law “Kris Jong-Un” in a separate tweet. The musician’s tweets referencing his wife and family have since been deleted.
The ”Yeezus” singer’s family aren’t the only ones concerned for his wellbeing. On Tuesday the rapper shared a video of Dave Chappelle visiting his Wyoming ranch where he profusely thanked the comedian for coming to check on him.
THANK YOU DAVE FOR HOPPING ON A JET TO COME SEE ME DOING WELL DAVE YOU ARE A GOD SEND AND A TRUE FRIEND ALL LOVE 🕊 pic.twitter.com/ddLA0E9eLK
— ye (@kanyewest) July 21, 2020
In the video, Kanye asked Chapelle to lift the mood with a joke, repeatedly saying, “We need you.”
“Dave can you please just make us smile? The world needs, you know, we need some joy,” Kanye began the video.
When asked to do an “uplifting” joke,” the comedian replied: “An uplifting joke? You know I don’t write them!”
Kanye was apparently satisfied with his friend’s answer, and burst into laughter.
The award-winning musician has been open about his mental health journey in the past. He was hospitalized in 2016 for treatment, which he later opened up about in a 2018 interview on Charlamagne Tha God’s podcast, “We Got Love.”
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“I think I’m in a stronger place than I ever was, after the breakdown — or I like to say the breakthrough,” he said at the time.
In 2018, the “Fade” rapper revealed in the lyrics and album art for his album “Ye” that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He got even more candid about his diagnosis on “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” in 2019 – and even described to the former late night host what he felt when he had an “episode.”
“When you’re in this state, you’re hyper-paranoid about everything … Everyone now is an actor. Everything’s a conspiracy. You feel the government is putting chips in your head. You feel you’re being recorded. You feel all these things. You have this moment you feel everyone wants to kill you. You pretty much don’t trust anyone.”