Kanye and Kim: obsessive exes aren't a joke

Kanye West is an icon. There’s no denying his enormous presence and influence on our media-obsessed society, his Yeezy brand selling out within minutes, albums consistently charting top, and his self-obsessed nature tops him as arguably the most iconic artist of his generation. But his icon status doesn’t stop with his genius songwriting – he’s also a certified ass.

Famously embarrassing poor Taylor Swift, crashing the VMA stage after she won Best Female Video, it seemed that Kanye’s poor social behaviour came from a place of narcissism, something that he seemed to shed only for his wife Kim Kardashian. And it was sweet. We all watched him pine after her for years, finally putting someone other than himself first, winning her over, and showering her with gifts. But then, Kanye decided to backtrack completely. He denied slavery existed, proudly wore MAGA merch and decided to run for president.

And this is when his relationship fell apart. “When I divorced him, you have to know it came down to just one thing: his personality”, Kim Kardashian recently said in her SNL host monologue.

I believe this to be a rather overlooked statement. Treated as a joke for obvious reasons, the public brushed off the rather concerning comment from the once besotted wife of Kanye. It seems as if, now that Kanye is no longer under the clasp of the Kardashians, his true personality is being expressed online, and it’s majorly concerning.

Obsession with exes is common, we all check up on our old partner's Instagrams now and again, comparing our happiness with theirs, slightly lingering on the photo of their new partner. Kanye takes this to the extreme. Highly humorous at a glance, the icon that lost his mind and wife to a skinny stoner, Kanye’s posts were treated as a joke. And they were funny, the memes were funny, but ultimately, we were all ignoring the incredibly problematic obsession behind it.

‘Skete’ was thrust into a sea of death threats, and Kanye fuelled the chaos, and we revelled in it.

But, we forget about poor Kim. Already suffering enough from yet another divorce, the father of her children takes to social media to criticise everything she is doing to chase her own happiness – a sort of mental abuse that no one would be able to escape, with his following so fiercely loyal and large.

It makes me wonder how damaging social media is for moving on from relationships, how damaging the constant reminder that someone can be and is happier without you. Obsession leads to comparisons and constant thoughts of ‘why not me? Why am I not good enough?’. This culminates into a toxic, self-indulgent mindset instead of doing the healthy thing. That being just letting go, forgiving and forgetting, and living a life that can be much more fulfilling without the person who clearly just wasn’t right for you.

As someone who has been at the butt end of an obsessed, toxic ex, who critiqued my every move on social media and my attempts to move on, please friend, please don’t be like Kanye.