When Ye first threatened to “beat Pete Davidson’s a-” in song, one could be forgiven for laughing at it as another famous and provocative artist’s antics. After all, Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – has courted public controversy all his life, since his long feud with Taylor Swift to his comings and goings Support for former President Donald Trump.
As we now know, the diss on January’s “Eazy” release was actually the start of the rapper’s aggressive social media campaign against his ex-wife Kim Kardashian – a campaign that sparked an outcry over harassment and themes of violence.
On March 18, Ye was forbidden to play at the Grammy Awards in April days after he hurled racial slurs at “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah on Instagram. Noah drew Ye’s ire by using his late-night talk show to shine a spotlight on the rapper’s treatment of Kardashian and her boyfriend, “Saturday Night Live” actor Pete Davidson.
Over the past few weeks, Ye has been posting loaded swear words social media tirades against Davidson, calling him “Skete” Davidson and blaming him for coming between him and his family. Ye shares four children with Kardashian, who filed for divorce in early 2021. He professed a desire to reunite with Kardashian despite his ongoing relationship.
A caption all caps urged followers to “hold your spouse close…because there’s a Skete lurking in every dirty alleyway waiting to help destroy your family.” Other posts now deleted accused Kardashian of alienating Ye from her children, Davidson of being a drug addict, and the media of “gaslighting” in their coverage of the situation. In all, the rapper posted more than sixty posts on Instagram before the service suspended his account for directing racial epithets at Noah.
of Noah “Daily show” segment sought to dispel popular opinions of the feud as typical tabloid fodder, instead presenting it as a high-profile example of the harassment women face from their ex-partners.
“You might not feel sorry for Kim because she’s rich and famous…because she tells women they’re lazy,” Noah said. “But what she goes through is terrifying to watch, and it highlights what so many women go through when they choose to leave.”
It is true that Kardashian expressed “emotional distresson Ye’s attacks in a recent court filing that asked the judge to speed up the divorce process. In a so-called text exchange disclosed by Ye, Kardashian warned her ex-husband against “creating a dangerous and frightening environment” that could incite violence against Davidson.
Some of Ye’s online content has indeed used violent images. Earlier in March, the “Donda” rapper released a claymation clip for the song “Eazy” that appeared to depict him abducting, burying and decapitating a Davidson figure.
A follow-up video shows a flayed monkey punching an animated figure labeled “SKETE,” just as Ye proclaims, “God saved me from this crash / Just so I could beat Pete Davidson’s a—.” The visuals drew heavy criticism across the board, with even some fans judging them “too much.”
Ye’s devoted fanbase struggled to figure out how to view his behavior. Many members of the “WestSubEver” Reddit community adopt the nickname “Skete” and delighted in their idol’s repost of a “Captain America: Civil War” meme that pits Ye against Davidson, Kardashian, Swift and other supposed haters.
Sycophantic comments under Ye’s Instagram posts regularly garner thousands of likes. The artist was also open about his fight bipolar disorderwhich requires some nuance in the discussion.
Other fans, realizing the potential to join him online after the meme went viral, wrote open letters imploring Ye to respect her little mother’s boundaries and focus on being a responsible co-parent.
You have already apologized to Kardashian and acknowledged that his public attacks on her and Davidson “looked like harassment” before renewing them shortly thereafter.
Throughout the controversy, Ye has argued that his social media presence is a tool to circumvent biased media and prevent his ex-wife from practicing.unilateral controlon their children. He also argues that the dispute touches on a broader culture of fathers, especially black fathers, forced to fight just to be part of their children’s lives.
Although Ye may sincerely believe that the media, friends and family are all conspiring against him, the indisputable cultural issue that colors the situation is women’s frequent struggle to manage their relationships safely. experts on Women’s Issues noted that Ye’s efforts to bully Kardashian risk desensitizing people to this unhealthy behavior. Among them is Taylor Nichols, a staff member at the University’s Women’s Center who coordinates the organization’s program on gender-based violence and social change.
“I feel like people watching what they saw of Kim and Kanye didn’t really take it seriously,” Nichols said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily. “Even though Kim has access to a lot of resources and security, she is still publicly harassed and if you are a survivor or victim of domestic violence, you may not have access.”
Nichols has expressed concern that unsympathetic attitudes toward Kardashian on social media — often accusing her of appreciating attention — could weaken the confidence of everyday women to report abuse.
“If someone doesn’t have access to those resources, you probably won’t come forward,” Nichols said. “Like if people don’t show their support for Kim, why would they show their support for me – who’s not famous?”
Advocacy groups emphasize that verbal abuse through technological or other means can inflict deep emotional wounds, isolating victims from their loved ones and making them feel responsible for their situation.
Ye deleted all his Instagram posts following a brief suspension of the app for violating its policies on “hate speech, bullying and harassment”. In what is surely a relief for the Kardashian family, Ye has refrained from using social media further.
In his monologue, Noah is careful not to paint the artist as hopelessly evil or physically violent. But as he points out, the inability of one of the world’s richest women to escape the harassment of an ex doesn’t bode well for women in less powerful positions.
“If Kim can’t escape it, then what chance do normal women have?” concluded the talk show host.
