Kanye West seemed to reverse course in his social media harassment of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Pete Davidson this week. After days of posting then deleting highly personal messages, West made a more calm, reflective post on Tuesday night. The 44-year-old rapper said that he wants to “take accountability” and admitted that he is “still learning in real-time.”
“I’velearned that using all caps makes people feel like I’m screaming at them,” West began. “I’m working on my communication. I can benefit from a team of creative professionals, organizers, mobilizers and community leaders. Thank everybody for supporting me. I know sharing screen shots was jarring and came off as harassing Kim. I take accountability. I’m still learning in real-time. I don’t have all the answers. To be [a] good leader is to be a good listener.”
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The caption accompanied a photo of West on stage staring out at a crowd through billowing fog. When he posted it, he also deleted all of his past posts, including screenshots of his text messages with Kardashian and memes implying violence towards Davidson. West had even posted more public overtures trying to get Kardashian to call off their divorce and get back together with him.
West has been taking heavy criticism for harassing Kardashian and Davidson in recent weeks and weaponizing his enormous social media following. Kardashian’s text messages showed concern that West might inadvertently inspire someone to attack her or Davidson, while some critics went so far as to say that the threats were intentional.
A few hours after this conciliatory post, West shared a photo of a roadside billboard that read: “Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all.” That has been deleted now, although the “accountability” post has not. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, West posted a screenshot of a headline about Tremaine Emory becoming the creative director for the fashion brand Supreme with a heart emoji.
So far, Kardashian’s most direct public response to West came on her Instagram Story back on Feb. 4. She wrote: “Kanye’s constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create. As the parent who is the main provider and caregiver for our children, I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision โ because it brings her happiness.”
“Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanye’s obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all,” she continued. “From the beginning, I have wanted nothing but a healthy relationship because it is what is best for our children and it saddens me that Kanye continues to make it impossible every step of the way.”