Kanye West has shared an Instagram post in response to Kim Kardashian’s split from Pete Davidson.
But first, here’s some context.
In the months following Kim and Ye’s divorce in February 2021, Ye made it clear with a number of public statements that he had hopes of rekindling their marriage, even going as far as to say that he had “never even seen” their divorce papers.
His hopes of a reunion were made more complicated by the fact that Kim began dating former Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson in late October. And as their relationship became more serious, Ye resorted to publicly harassing both Kim and Pete on Instagram throughout February and March.
During these months, the rapper leveled numerous insults at Pete — who he referred to only as “Skete” — accusing him of “destroying” his family.
Concern reached new heights when Ye began sharing private messages between himself, Kim, and Pete — perhaps most notably, a text exchange where Kim expressed concern for Pete’s safety after Ye had encouraged his fans to “scream” at him in public.
Ye’s contempt for Pete extended to his music too, rapping in his track “Eazy” that he would “beat [his] ass.” In the accompanying video for this song, Ye is depicted kidnapping and decapitating a claymation version of the 28-year-old.
The video sparked huge concern among fans, with many urging Pete to take legal action. However, we eventually learned that Pete called out Ye’s behavior in text messages made public by the comedian.
“I have your back even though you treat me like shit because I want everything to be smooth. But if you continue to press me like you have for the past 6 months I’m gonna stop being nice,” Pete wrote in his messages to Ye.
Ye was ultimately suspended from Instagram for violating the platform’s bullying and harassment policies on March 17, and since then, he has made no further comments about Pete.
In April, reports claimed that Ye was seeking “behavioral” treatment to be a “better human and better dad” to his and Kim’s four children.
On Friday, inside sources informed E! News and People that after nine months together, Kim and Pete had decided to break up, citing long distance and scheduling issues, which “made it really difficult to maintain a relationship.”
Inevitably, fans were quick to turn their attention to Ye, flooding the internet with comments about how he might be responding to the split.
And now, three days since the news broke, Ye has taken to Instagram to share his reaction.
This morning, the Yeezy founder appeared to celebrate the split by posting a photoshopped image of the New York Times, dated with today’s date and emblazoned with the headline: “SKETE DAVIDSON DEAD AT AGE 28.”
The reference echoes his violent music video for “Eazy,” which depicted Pete’s death and included the message: “EVERYONE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER EXCEPT SKETE.”
Upon further inspection, fans also noticed that the recent post includes a subtle reference to Ye’s former collaborator, Kid Cudi, with whom Ye publicly ended his decade-spanning friendship over his links to Pete.
A small caption beneath the headline read: “Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers,” which appears to be a reference to Cudi walking off stage at a festival last month after fans were throwing objects at him.
Ye’s post comes shortly after reports that he and Kim were “very civil” in the wake of their public dispute.
“Kim and Kanye have been coparenting very well as of late,” an insider told Us Weekly on Aug. 4. “They are very civil with each other and right now, there are no issues.”
“They are both treating each other with mutual respect,” the source added.
Ye also recently spoke about his decision to take a “little hiatus” after being criticized for his harassment of Kim, saying onstage at the BET Awards in June that he wanted to declare himself “legally dead.”
As it stands, neither Kim nor Pete have responded to Ye’s recent post, which still remains live on his Instagram account.