“What Kanye is doing to Kim is harassment and public humiliation — the worst part is that it's happening in front of the world and people are watching it like entertainment.”
Fans are expressing concern on social media after Kanye West leaked some distressing messages, allegedly from Kim Kardashian.
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But before we get into fans’ responses, here’s a quick reminder of how we reached this point.
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As I’m sure you’re aware, Kim filed for divorce from Kanye — who legally changed his name to Ye — way back in February 2021, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The pair — who share four children together: North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm — appeared to be functioning amicably as co-parents in the initial wake of the split.
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However, things took a turn a few months down the line in October after rumors first surfaced that Kim had started dating Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson.
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While Kim’s budding romance with Pete began to unfold publicly throughout November, Ye started making a bunch of grand declarations in a bid to reconcile their marriage. On several occasions, Ye declared that “God” would bring them back together, and even appeared to completely disregard their divorce by claiming that he’d “never even seen” the divorce papers.
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Despite Ye's public efforts to win her back, Kim lay low and quietly made it clear that she was still pursuing their divorce. In December, she filed to be declared “legally single,” and in formal documents, stated that “no counseling or reconciliation effort” would fix their marriage.
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In spite of Kim’s new relationship and her clear desire to be officially separated from the rapper, Ye did not relent in his pursuit to win her back and also leveled a number of direct digs at Pete.
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In January, Ye released a new track in which he mentioned Pete by name, rapping: “God saved me from this crash / Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass.” In another newly released song called “City of Gods,” Ye also appeared to suggest that Pete should “thank” him for letting him “have” Kim.
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But despite already making his feelings about Pete very clear in his music — it wasn’t until this weekend that fans heard the full extent of Ye’s grievances.
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The whole thing began on Saturday when Ye shocked fans by informing them that his longtime friend and collaborator Kid Cudi would no longer be featured on his upcoming album, Donda 2.
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In a cryptic Instagram post, Ye explained that he would no longer be working with Cudi because he is “friends with you know who,” which fans took to be a reference to Pete. He quickly confirmed fans' suspicions by sharing a string of impassioned posts about Pete, who he consistently refers to as “Skete.”
In the since-deleted statements, Ye called him a “dickhead,” “garbage,” and “trash.” However, fans were left most concerned on Sunday, when the rapper shared a private message which appeared to be from Pete, reassuring Ye that he wasn't trying to get involved with his and Kim's four children.
“I’d never get [in the] way of your children,” the text from Pete appears to read. “[That’s] a promise. How you guys [go about] raising your kids is [your business] and not mine. I do [hope one] day I can meet them and [we can] all be friends.”
Ye shared the message to his followers with the caption: “NO YOU WILL NEVER MEET MY CHILDREN.” For context, this comes a month after an interview with Hollywood Unlocked where Ye expressed concerns that Pete had been inside Kim’s home with their children.
Ye then returned to expressing his desire to be reunited with Kim, writing from the Super Bowl, “I WISH MY WIFE WAS WITH ME AND OUR CHILDREN SITTING AT THE 50 YARD LINE @kimkardashian ALWAYS REMEMBER WEST WAS YOUR BIGGEST W.”
He doubled down on this statement in yet another string of Instagram posts on Monday, maintaining his love for Kim and expressing that he has “faith” that the two will “be back together.”
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“I DON’T HAVE BEEF WITH KIM,” wrote Ye beneath a recent photograph of Kim and Pete. “I LOVE MY FAMILY SO STOP THAT NARRATIVE IM NOT GIVING UP ON MY FAMILY.”
“I HAVE FAITH THAT WE'LL BE BACK TOGETHER,” he went on. “WE HAVE A PUBLIC RELATIONSHIP BECAUSE WE ARE PUBLIC FIGURES SO TO THE PUBLIC AND TO THE PRESS SOMETIMES PEOPLE CALL ME CRAZY BUT TO BE IN LOVE IS TO BE CRAZY ABOUT SOMETHING AND I AM CRAZY ABOUT MY FAMILY.”
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In a subsequent post, Ye wrote that his family means more to him than any other accomplishment and proceeded to encourage his fans to “scream” at Pete if they saw him in public.
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“IF ANYONE LOVES ME AND MY FAMILY IF YOU SEE SKETE IN REAL LIFE SCREAM AT THE [LOSER] AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS AND SAY KIMYE FOREVER,” he wrote, adding brokenhearted emoji at the end of the caption.
Later that day, Ye shared a photograph of a black pickup truck filled with red roses, which fans took to be a Valentine’s Day gift for Kim. White lettering on the side of the truck read: “MY VISION IS KRYSTAL KLEAR.”
Following break up with Julia Fox, Kanye West sends Kim Kardashian a truck full of roses.
While all of this has been unfolding, Kim and Pete have been photographed together in NYC. Neither of the two has spoken out about Ye's statements, but it wasn’t long before Ye exposed how Kim has been responding behind closed doors.
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After encouraging fans to “scream” at Pete, Ye posted private text messages from Kim, where she expressed concern for Pete’s safety.
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The screenshotted messages — sent by a number saved under “Kim Other Phone” — began with one calling out Ye for creating a “dangerous” environment with his social media activity.
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“U are creating a dangerous and scary environment,” the text from “Kim Other Phone” read. “Someone will hurt Pete and this will be all your fault.”
Ye shared the texts alongside a shot from the 2001 movie Baby Boy, in which Ving Rhames can be seen holding Tyrese Gibson in a chokehold. He tagged Kim’s account on Gibson's face.
Referring to Kim as his “wife,” Ye captioned the post: “UPON MY WIFE’S REQUEST PLEASE NOBODY DO ANYTHING PHYSICAL TO SKETE.” He went on to say that he is going to “handle the situation” himself, which many interpreted as a threat of violence.
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Shortly after this, he shared another batch of messages, again seemingly sent by Kim. In this exchange, Kim appears to thank Ye for deterring his fans and warns him of the “dangerous people” that could cause harm to Pete.
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“Well thank you,” the message reads. “There are dangerous people out there and this is scary and it doesn’t have to be." In response to this, Ye can be seen assuring her that “nothing physical” will happen to Pete.
What’s more, in a second screenshot Kim appears to ask why Ye feels the need to share their personal text messages on social media. Ye responded by telling Kim she is his “favorite person in the world,” writing: “I’m your number one fan. Why wouldn’t I tell everyone!!!”
As has come to be expected from Ye, the posts did not remain live on his account for long and have all since been deleted. Despite this, the leaked messages between him and Kim made their way across social media.
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And while a lot of fans appear to be taking in the conflict as it unfolds, a large majority of followers expressed concern for both Ye — who's experienced mental health struggles in the past — and Kim for everything she's currently enduring.
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In fact, many were quick to call out Ye for his treatment of Kim, highlighting that his actions are consistent with harassment and should be treated as such.
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“What Kanye is doing to Kim is harassment and public humiliation,” someone wrote on Twitter. “The worst part is that it's happening in front of the world and people are watching it like entertainment.”
What Kanye is doing to Kim is harassment and public humiliation—the worst part is that its happening in front of the world and people are watching it like entertainment.
“I think many survivors will agree this [is] far from funny or entertaining. This is the escalating point to something majorly violent,” another speculated. “Please stop encouraging Kanye. To my survivors, please detox from this if needed. This is triggering shit.”
- Kim Other Phone - I think many survivors will agree this far from funny or entertaining. This is the escalating point to something majorly violent. Please stop encouraging Kanye. To my survivors, please detox from this if needed. This is triggering shit.
Likewise, a lot of people came forward to say that they considered Ye's behavior to be “triggering,” especially for those who may have experienced similar situations.
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“None of this shit is funny, as someone who deals with this, I can say it's scary, and stressful,” someone wrote, going on to praise Kim for making the decision to leave the marriage. “I have sympathy for her … It's a tough choice leaving, but I'm happy she did.”
@pinatafarms None of this shit is funny, as someone who deals with this, I can say it's scary, and stressful. I have sympathy for her, cause I know from experience, there have been signs all a long, of his instability. It's a tough choice leaving, but I'm happy she did.
“This is terrifying for a woman. He’s threatening violence and demanding her back. This is not okay, any woman who has been in this situation and feared for her life doesn’t think it’s funny, it’s triggering and terrifying,” wrote another, referencing his persistent attempts to win her back.
@zzzay___ @pinatafarms He’s stalking her this is terrifying for a woman. He’s threatening violence and demanding her back. This is not okay, any woman who has been in this situation and feared for her life doesn’t think it’s funny, it’s triggering and terrifying. Somebody needs to set him straight
One fan accused Ye of “ridiculing” Kim by sharing her messages with the world against her will.
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“When she directly addresses him about how he’s making her feel unsafe he decides to post a screenshot and ridicule her concerns but people want to keep defending him,” they said.
@BassieLastrassi And when she directly addresses him about how he’s making her feel unsafe he decides to post a screenshot and ridicule her concerns but people want to keep defending him
Another called his behavior “textbook harassment,” noting that he “goes on to bombard her with gifts and affection” despite her attempts to distance herself from him.
What Kim is going through is textbook harassment. It’s terrifying how he’ll dress it up as wanting to be a present father but goes on to bombard her with gifts and affection.
As it currently stands, neither Kim nor Pete have publicly addressed Ye's behavior.
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Kanye West Leaked Text Messages From Kim Kardashian Expressing Fear For Pete Davidson’s Safety After He Encouraged Fans To “Scream” At Him In Public And It’s Sparked A Conversation About Harassment - BuzzFeed News
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