by jmccoy3 on March 24, 2022
Opinion
Ashley Seldon ’24
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s very public divorce has been the subject of news for months despite more pressing matters facing the world. While at first their divorce seemed to be a peaceful separation where the couple would be able to co-parent, social media ruined that possibility. Relations between Kim Kardashian and Kanye West began to spiral when he allegedly was not given the address of his daughter, Chicago’s, birthday party. Since then, he has posted private messages among him and Kim, Pete Davidson, and other family members. He has publicly asked for Kardashian to come back to him, despite his public appearances with multiple women. Kanye West also called out the fact that North has a TikTok account, and Kim responded on her Instagram story, saying, “Kanye’s constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create.” His Instagram attacks seem like manic episodes with senseless captions in all caps. He has bad-mouthed Davidson and coined a new nickname for him: “skete.”
The situation appeared comedic when West posted a meme he made of Marvel’s Civil War with him and Pete Davidson against each other in battle along with different members of their social circle. Additionally, though, back in December, West bought a house directly across the street from his former wife. While he says his concern is proximity to children, he could have easily purchased a home in a nearby neighborhood. If it were anyone else, people would call him a stalker. Kim Kardashian is not happy with how public West has made their separation. She was recently approved to be considered legally single because of the harassment she has endured from Kanye. Kim posted her first official relationship photo with Pete Davidson following this news. Meanwhile, West has moved on to another Kim look-alike—from Julia Fox to Chaney Jones. Creepily he appears to be committed to making each of his women dress like Kardashian, and Fox even admitted on the Call Her Daddy podcast that West dressed her.
While this is yet another irrelevant news story regarding the Kardashian family, Kim’s divorce and the public harassment she is enduring from her ex-husband are an important narrative. Many people have come to Kanye’s aid out of hate for the Kardashian family, saying they feel bad for the pain he is enduring and that the Kardashians have ruined yet another Black man (an ongoing myth that there is a Kardashian curse). People cannot deny that West is incredibly talented when it comes to making top-charting music and setting fashion trends. However, being an artist and what many call a “genius” does not undo the fact that he is abusive to his ex-wife and children. He has been publicly harassing her and most likely affecting his relationship with the kids as he makes co-parenting unbearable. Kim Kardashian has publicly done nothing to shame her ex-husband while he seems committed to ruining her life.
In Kanye West’s new song, “Eazy,” he says he wants to beat up Pete Davidson. In the disturbing music video, a blurred face looks like Davidson wears a “skete” hoodie and gets attacked by a monkey. West is inciting violence by threatening Davidson, and this behavior shouldn’t be pushed to the side just because Kanye West is rich, famous, and influential. It also seems strategic that West had sat on documentary footage for twenty years and then finally sold it to Netflix that details personal aspects of his life and has made fans pity him. It is clear West has never fully coped with the untimely death of his mother, but that doesn’t change that his behavior is wrong. In light of it being National Women’s History Month, it is particularly important that Kim Kardashian is enduring a toxic cycle from which most women do not have the resources and money to protect themselves and their families. Suppose people are incapable of checking Kanye West’s behavior. What does this mean for any woman dealing with a manipulative ex who has threatened or harassed her into getting back together? Though Kim Kardashian is wealthy, she deserves to be supported and protected by society.