Kanye West is continuing to reflect on his split from Kim Kardashian — and on his role in the demise of their marriage
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In recent weeks, Kanye has been increasingly vocal about his failed relationship with Kim, who filed for divorce in February after almost seven years of marriage citing “irreconcilable differences.”
Now, in a new video shared on Thanksgiving, Kanye — who has legally changed his name to Ye — offered further insight into how he’s been coping since the split, while reflecting on and “taking accountability” for his mistakes.
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Kanye began by introducing what he’s titled a “Thanksgiving prayer,” and declaring his thanks for his “blood family, fans, and haters,” referring in part to the four children he shares with Kim: North, 8, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and Psalm, 2.
After first speaking of his son Saint, who he referred to as his “mini me,” Kanye went on to express his desire to be reunited with his children.
“All I think about every day is how I get my family back together, and how I heal the pain that I’ve caused,” Kanye said.
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“I take accountability for my actions… new word alert: misactions,” he continued. “The one thing that all my successes and failures have in common is me.”
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Kanye went on to address perhaps one of the biggest contributors to his and Kim’s failed marriage: his Republican image.
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If you needed a quick reminder, Kanye first publicly endorsed Donald Trump in an extensive speech given at his Saint Pablo tour in 2016. “If I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted for Trump,” he said on stage.
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In 2018, Kanye faced more criticism when he continued to share his support of Trump, making a visit to the White House and posting a series of selfies in a “Make America Great Again” hat.
At the time, Kim tweeted in support of her husband — who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years earlier — writing that the media was “demonizing” his behavior and portraying him as “erratic,” which caused her to also face severe criticism.
To the media trying to demonize my husband let me just say this… your commentary on Kanye being erratic & his tweets being disturbing is actually scary. So quick to label him as having mental health issues for just being himself when he has always been expressive is not fair
Twitter: @KimKardashian
A couple of years later in July 2020, Kanye launched his campaign for presidency. During his first (and only) political press rally speech, Kanye shockingly revealed that he and Kim had considered an abortion when she was pregnant with North — who was aged 7 at the time.
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Delivering an anti-abortion speech in South Carolina, Kanye first said his father had wanted to abort him but his mother had “saved his life”, before going on to share that he too had raised the subject of abortion with Kim. “I almost killed my daughter,” he said in tears.
The comments sparked intense backlash and were ultimately deemed the “final straw” behind Kim’s decision to file for divorce earlier this year — something that she opened up about in detail on the last season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Now addressing his political campaign in his recent Thanksgiving prayer, Kanye admitted that he’d “embarrassed” Kim and their family with his speech.
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“Good Lord, my wife did not like me wearing the red hat,” he said, referring to the MAGA hat he wore publicly while supporting Trump.
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“Being a good wife, she just wanted to protect me and our family,” he said. “I made me and our family a target by not aligning with Hollywood’s political stance, and that was hard for our marriage.”
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Kanye went on to discuss his 2020 US presidential election run, noting that it was “without proper preparation” and with “no allies on either side.”
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“I embarrassed my wife in the way that I presented information about our family, during the one — and thank God only — press conference,” he said, seemingly referring to the comments about North.
“All my dad had to say afterwards was, ‘Write your speech next time, son,’” he added.
Kanye also tweeted an apology to Kim in July last year, shortly after his comments caused huge controversy. Kim had shared a statement to her Instagram story days prior, writing, “Anyone who has [Bipolar disorder] or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand.”
Elsewhere in his prayer, Kanye discussed his experience with Bipolar disorder, struggles with alcohol, “ego,” and “self-righteous Christian behavior.”
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“I would drink to take the stress away and knock the edge off,” Kanye said. “Drinking affected my health and the health of the people around me, because I already had a hair trigger temper and this just heightened it.”
Kanye also revealed he’s been “on and off” his prescribed medication, leaving him “susceptible to other episodes.”
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“I went into a manic episode in 2016 and I was placed under heavy medication,” he said. “Since then, I went on and off the medication which left me susceptible to other episodes, which my wife and family and fans have had to endure.”
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Kanye rounded things off by expressing his gratitude toward Kim, his family and God.
“This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the family that my wife has given me. I’m thankful for the life that God has given me, and I’m thankful for your time, attention, and patience,” he said.
This all comes just a day after Kanye delivered a speech at the Los Angeles Mission’s Annual Thanksgiving event, where he revealed he believes God will bring him and Kim back together.
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“We’ve made mistakes. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve publicly done things that were not acceptable as a husband,” Kanye admitted.
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Kanye went on to share that he wanted to “change the narrative” of his and Kim’s failed marriage, before seemingly pleading to be “back at home” with their children.
“I have to be next to my children as much as possible,” he said. “… I’m trying to express this in the most sane way possible, the most calm way possible: I need to be back at home.”
“If the enemy can separate Kimye, there’s going to be millions of families that feel like that separation is OK,” Kanye said. “But when the kingdom, when God brings Kimye together, there’s going to be millions of families that are going to be influenced to see that they can overcome the work of the separation of trauma the devil has used to capitalize to keep people in misery.”
Three weeks prior, Kanye shocked fans by claiming that he had “never seen the divorce papers,” in his now-viral appearance on the Drink Champs podcast where he spoke out about his split from Kim for the very first time.
In the two-part episode, Kanye repeatedly insisted that Kim is still his wife, before going on to share that their four children also want them to be together.
“My kids want their parents to stay together. … I want us to be together,” he said.
Though Kim hasn’t yet publicly addressed Kanye’s comments, she has attracted attention elsewhere recently after seemingly confirming her rumored relationship with Pete Davidson.
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As you’ve probably seen, Kim and Pete have been pictured out on a series of dinner dates in recent weeks. Fans began speculating that they were dating after they were photographed hand-in-hand at a theme park in October, shortly after they’d shared a kiss during a skit on Saturday Night Live.
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Most recently, the pair were seen out at dinner in LA, with Pete sporting what appeared to be a large hickey on his neck.