Experts say Kanye West’s bipolar disorder isn’t to blame; there’s “much deeper going on” in his erratic behavior.
Kanye West is currently facing police investigation for punching a man who put his hands on Bianca Censori – whose barely-there outfits are made fun of by Ye’s kids with Kim Kardashian. The rapper’s scandalous appearances with the Yeezy Architect followed his social media tirades against Kardashian – mostly about her parenting choices.
Before they were both accused of pushing their firstborn North West into fame, Ye expressed concerns over the reality star allowing North to use TikTok. Many people sided with the music provocateur. And as it turned out, psychiatrists kinda do, too. Still, they acknowledge that West has a “concerning negative psychological impact” on his fanbase, especially the Black community.
Psychiatrist Labeled Kim Kardashian “Deluded” For Wanting Easy Parenting With Kanye West
In a series called TMZ Investigates: Kanye West: Unhinged But Unstoppable, released in February 2024, psychiatrist Dr. Kyle Smith said that “as long as Ye’s not endangering the children … Kanye is no different than other parents who have prejudices … and that’s a big group,” per TMZ. He added that “we can’t shield our kids from everything,” before holding Kardashian accountable for choosing to marry West in the first place.
“To think that your children are going to grow up in a Leave It to Beaver world is deluded.”
Leave it to Beaver is a TV sitcom (1957-1963) that was later turned into a film (1997) about “Theodore ‘Beaver’ Cleaver, age 8, has misadventures and learns life lessons in this entertaining, hilarious tale of a small-town Ohio family and the daily trials of life,” per IMDb. Smith explained: “You marry a person who’s famous for being flamboyant, famous for being erratic. It’s a feature. It’s not a bug. So when it goes awry, well then I’m sorry!”
In 2022, Kardashian lamented how hard it was to protect West “in the eyes” of their children. “I definitely protected him — and I still will — in the eyes of my kids, for my kids. So in my home, my kids don’t know anything that goes on in the outside world,” she said on the Angie Martinez IRL podcast. “It’s really f–king hard. [But] if they don’t know things that are being said… why would I ever bring that energy to them? That’s like real heavy, heavy grown-up s–t that they’re not ready to deal with.”
Kim Kardashian was accused of pushing North West to prefer living with Kanye West after her “boy mom” statement.
Psychologist Doesn’t Blame Kim Kardashian On Ye’s Antics But Advised Her To Discuss It With Their Kids
Dr. Kevin Cokley, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, told TMZ he’s someone “who thinks Kim needs to sit their kids down and try to get them to understand they can love their father without approving of everything he says,” per Pink Villa. Cokley was mostly concerned about Ye’s discriminatory comments. The rapper, Game, however, is sure that Ye “loves [his kids] more than he loves himself.”
But it might be hard for Kardashian to explain Ye parading Censor in nearly nude clothing. The Kardashians star reportedly has mixed feelings about the gimmick. “Everyone wants Kim to be appalled that Bianca is dressing like her and copying her style, but it is not the case,” an insider told Daily Mail, per TheThings‘ previous article. “Kim actually does think that Bianca looks like her.”
“What Kim does find slightly odd is that the whole time she was with Kanye, he was all about her covering up. He wanted her to not show any skin and tone down her sex appeal.”
Fortunately, all is well between Censori and Kardashian’s four kids with West. “Bianca treats their kids very well and the kids seem to have much love for her,” the source continued. “This is what is most important to Kim. At the end of the day, Kanye is happy and is not interfering in Kim’s life.”
Here’s a timeline of the messy Kardashian-West divorce:
February 19, 2021
Kardashian filed for divorce from West after nearly 7 years of marriage
December 9, 2021
Ye pled on stage, in revised lyrics of Runaway: “I need you to run right back to me, baby / More specifically, Kimberly”
December 10, 2021
Kardashian filed to be declared legally single
February 16, 2022
Ye’s camp challenged Kardashian’s request citing that doing so could pose “a risk of adverse consequences”
March 1, 2022
Kardashian obtained her legal single status
March 4, 2022
Kardashian got “really upset with” Ye due to his “violent” music video involving a buried claymation of Pete Davidson – Kardashian’s boyfriend back then; Ye and Davidson had a heated text exchange
October 2022
Kardashian condemned Ye’s antisemitic statements
November 29, 2022
Their divorce was finalized; they agreed on legal joint custody and Ye was ordered to pay Kardashian $200,000 a month in child support
Here’s a timeline of the messy Kardashian-West divorce:
Ye’s “Negative Psychological Impact” Is Caused By Something “Mental Health Cannot Explain”
In October 2022, Dr. Cokley wrote an opinion piece on Ye’s antisemitic remarks for Psychology Today. The professor started the article by saying, “We need to talk about Kanye West.” He went on to say that the problem isn’t the musician’s bipolar disorder. “While he has had a long history of erratic behavior, things came to a boiling point with his recent anti-Semitic remarks,” he wrote. “… If I’m being completely honest, part of me feels that Kanye’s comeuppance has been a long time in the making.”
Cokley continued: “Kanye has repeatedly engaged in provocative behaviors that have been disrespectful to the Black community… As a Black psychologist, I have long been concerned about Kanye’s mental health and the negative psychological impact Kanye has had on the Black community.” While the psychologist agreed “there is no doubt that his bipolar disorder has greatly contributed to his past and current difficulties,” he admitted:
“However, there is something much deeper going on that Eurocentric paradigms of mental health cannot explain.”
He then added that Ye’s case is an example of why “an Afrocentric Conceptualization of Mental Health is Needed.” Cokley revealed that “one of the elder statespersons of Black psychology, Na’im Akbar, proposed four classes of African-centered mental disorders,” which explain the rapper’s behavior which are unfortunately not included in DSM-5-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, Text Revision).
One of the significant assessments made by Cokley is that “the second proposed disorder, anti-self disorder, is characterized by hostility toward all things Black or African and is seen as more severe than alien-self disorder.” He said “Some might argue that Kanye’s ardent support for a president who made racist comments about Africa (among other racially offensive comments) is evidence that he may be suffering from this proposed disorder.”