As the headlines have spiraled around The Kardashians star Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's divorce, the Kardashian-Jenner family members have now unfollowed the rapper and fashion mogul on Instagram. The move isn't surprising as Kanye's moved from his traditional outlet for self-expression, Twitter, to Instagram. However, some have labeled Kanye's posts as more than self-expression. Kanye has abundant support, but some onlookers argue Kanye is displaying textbook abusive behavior. If one thing is true, it's that Kanye has had many ups and downs since the divorce filing.
Rai King discussed her history with abuse and how Kanye displays some of the tell-tale signs in an article by The North Star. Kanye himself apologized for harassing Kim by posting private text messages between them. He shared, "I know sharing screenshots was jarring and came off as harassing Kim," in a since-deleted post. He continued, "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." Kanye also said he understood that using all-caps text made it feel like he was yelling at his reader and aimed to adjust his messaging, only to return to the all caps styling a couple of posts later. This wasn't the first time Kanye backtracked on a post. Some have gone so far as to compare Kanye's ongoing media posts this week to former President Donald Trump's monopolization of media narratives.
Amid Kanye's flurry of messages aimed to be both free and authentic as well as attention-grabbing, the Kardashian-Jenner family members have chosen to stop listening. Kim feels like Kanye's rhetoric is putting Pete Davidson and potentially herself in harm's way based on the shared private messages. Kanye reads as a man entirely infuriated by the concept that his wife has moved on and the manner by which she's gone about it. Swinging between criticizing Kim and sending her truckloads of roses doesn't appear to be winning her back and naturally led to an unfollow from Kim. While she has no power over when and where Kanye shares his opinions, she does have the power to ignore them.
It looks like she's asked the rest of her family to follow suit, including Travis Scott. While Kanye has positioned Travis on his side between this very personal and now all-consuming pop culture war, it seems like Travis has stayed loyal to the Kardashian-Jenner agenda for the time being. If the family truly believes Kanye's commentary could be damaging not only to his children but also stir potentially violent situations, then censoring said messages seems like a logical choice, one that even Travis can't ignore. The antics also benefit Pete's public image as the consistent and mellow adversary to Kanye's fiery feelings.
On one level, it's refreshing to see Kanye speak his mind unfiltered and unfazed by the norms of media consumption. On another, some of his posts could stir up dangerous situations. Overall, the potential for the public to take on Kanye's agenda in aggressive ways may not be so far-fetched, and the media's ferocious consumption of Kanye's commentary only fuels it further. While outlets won't stop reporting on Kanye's every move, the stars of the upcoming Hulu series The Kardashians can choose to put their attention elsewhere.
Source: The North Star