Editorial | Kanye needs to stop airing grievances publicly

Kanye West is currently in the news for some outlandish Instagram posts calling out his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, her current boyfriend Pete Davidson, as well as Kid Cudi, a frequent collaborator and friend of West. He also called out Kardashian for allowing their daughter to post on TikTok, claiming she is doing so without supervision.

While this might just seem like some celebrity drama, Kanye’s posts are likely harming his children, himself and Kim Kardashian. By publicly calling out his ex-wife, he is thrusting their personal problems into the public, creating room for people to create their own conclusions about the situation. While Kanye has been candid about dealing with mental health issues, it’s unfair to entirely blame his airing of grievances on mental health issues, especially when he drags his children into it.

While Kim and Kanye’s children have been in the public eye since their birth, since their parents are two of the most famous entertainers of this generation, they didn’t ask to be in this situation. They obviously can’t escape having eyes on them, but it’s likely detrimental for them to see their father saying negative things about their mother and her boyfriend so publicly.

By making these posts on his public Instagram with millions of followers, Kanye is leaving room for the public and the media to make speculations about events that have occurred behind closed doors. None of us really know how and why Kim and Kanye divorced, we don’t know what Davidson and Kim’s relationship looks like, and we don’t really know the people involved — we only know what we have been shown.

By posting his opinion while Kim stays silent, the public gets a closer look at his perspective and takes it as fact, even if they don’t know all the details involved. Having your private life become part of the public discourse is something no one should have to go through, especially with children who can see it all unfolding in front of them.

While we can’t make assumptions about whether or not Kanye’s mental health issues are the reason for the posts, people have begun to speculate that this is the reason. Regardless of whether this is true or not, people will still make assumptions about Kanye’s mental health status and call him “crazy.” On the flip side, people who continue to defend him and fully place blame on mental health issues are ignoring the actual hurt that his words do to his children and Kim.

It’s easy to make this situation into one that can be laughed at or constantly commented on, but it’s a deeply hurtful situation to everyone involved. Divorce and mental health issues are hard enough on most people, but these issues being thrusted into the limelight in front of millions of people makes it even more difficult. It’s easy to forget that celebrities are people too. By airing grievances in front of an audience, Kanye reduces the situation to a cultural event, something that could be meme’d instead of dealt with seriously.