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excerpt from Kanye West video Eazy

The Real Issue of Kanye West’s Feud With Pete Davidson

It's easy to write off the public feud as fodder for entertainment, but people should consider the gravity of the situation — regarding both mental health and everyone's safety.
March 24, 2022
10 mins read

Kanye West has declared war on Pete Davidson. Not officially, but he may as well have considering the countless public statements he has made since his split from Kim Kardashian. Ever since Kardashian filed for divorce on Feb. 19, 2021, West has accused her of keeping him from their children and for going against parenting agreements. Although he began the feud with his estranged wife, West did not stop there. Kardashian and Pete Davidson reportedly began dating around October 2021, approximately seven months after her split from West. West, of course, took to social media to vent his anger and to tell the public his side of the story. But rather than ending his tirade there, he continued to slander them, as well as other celebrities. Several, including Davidson, have asserted that they’re trying to help West, but he fails to listen.

West has repeatedly spoken out against Kardashian and Davidson in several now-deleted Instagram posts. After the couple reportedly started dating, West immediately got his allies in check. Kid Cudi, now a former friend of West, was taken off West’s new albumDonda” for remaining friends with “you know who.” West also posted a picture of himself with Kid Cudi, Timothée Chalamet and Pete Davidson with a red letter “x” through Davidson’s face captioned: “I JUST WANTED MY FRIEND TO HAVE MY BACK THE KNIFE GOES IN DEEPER.” Cudi then took to the comments section to fire back and claim that he was the best part of West’s albums. This added Cudi to West’s extensive list of everyone he has beef with.

Around the same time, West started even more needless drama — this time with pop sensation Billie Eilish. The beef began shortly after Eilish shared a video of herself helping a fan who was having an asthma attack, commenting, “We’re taking care of our people.” Taking her words as a reference to the accidental deaths at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival, West went public to demand that Eilish apologize to the rapper, to which Eilish responded that she had never even mentioned Scott’s name.

However, West’s outburst fell on deaf ears, and West soon uploaded the “Captain America: Civil War” movie poster to his Instagram; the image, however, was photoshopped to feature various headshots of his friends and rivals superimposed onto the original picture. West portrayed himself as Captain America along with his team members Drake, Travis Scott, Julia Fox and Future while Davidson was portrayed as Iron Man, the opposition, with Kardashian, Kid Cudi, Eilish and Taylor Swift — even though it has been years since West’s last beef with Swift.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaCs-76tow-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Although West publicly slandered multiple celebrities, Davidson still got the brunt of his tirade. West had stopped referring to Davidson by his first name and nicknamed him “Skete” instead. He made several posts referring to Davidson as Skete and even produced a music video with some not-so-subtle connotations. The music video in question — for West’s song “Eazy” in collaboration with The Game — portrays a claymation character dressed in black kidnapping a clay figure that resembles Davidson.

The video continues with what appears to be West in a mask holding the head of a decapitated Davidson. He also rapped, “I don’t negotiate with therapists” — possibly a reference to his friends and family imploring him to get help. He then buries Davidson while rapping, “​​God saved me from that crash / Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass (who?).” The video ends with a message written in white text against a black background that reads, “Everyone lived happily ever after. Except Skete” with the word “Skete” crossed out and “You Know Who” written underneath. At this point, Kardashian had finally had enough and reached out to West regarding Davidson’s safety.

Kardashian texted West pleading with him to stop harassing Davidson. West would post the exchanges with Kardashian to the internet, including one where she asked why he was posting conversations in which he claimed that she was keeping him from their children. Kardashian sent West a message that read, “u are creating a dangerous environment and someone will hurt Pete and this will all be your fault.” West also posted the conversation in a now-deleted Instagram post, captioned: “UPON MY WIFE’S REQUEST PLEASE NOBODY DO ANYTHING PHYSICAL TO SKETE IM GOING TO HANDLE THE SITUATION MYSELF.” After the post, West deleted all of his previous posts that mentioned Davidson and Kardashian.

Despite this, however, he continued to create more posts following the finalization of his divorce on March 2. On March 14, West posted a picture to Instagram of his daughter’s backpack that had three pins attached: Kardashian, an alien and West. West captioned it, “This was on my daughters backpack when I was ‘allowed’ to see her last week. This is why I go so hard for my family I am wired to protect my family at all cost As the priest of my home Don’t worry Northy God is still alive.” Kardashian took to the comments and wrote, “Please stop with this narrative, you were just here this morning picking up the kids for school.” West’s accusations of Kardashian being unfit to parent their kids sparked anger in Davidson, which led him to privately reach out to West.

Davidson’s friend and “Saturday Night Live” writer Dave Sirus posted a text conversation that appeared to be between Davidson and West. The messages show Davidson reaching out to West, opening with “Yo it’s Skete” followed by pleas for him to calm down; he continues by telling him that Kardashian is the best mother West could ask for. West responds by asking Davidson where he is, to which Davidson replies with a picture of himself in bed, saying, “in bed with your wife.” Davidson asks West to get together with him to discuss the situation privately, to which West responds to join him at Sunday Service.

Davidson also tells him that he knows that he’s struggling mentally and tells him to get help so that he’ll feel better. Davidson has been open about his mental health struggles for years and hoped to let West know that it’s better to get help than feel alone and live with the constant struggle. West has yet to respond to Davidson’s messages following the request to see him at Sunday Service. Davidson also told West that he’s kept comedians and “SNL” from writing skits about West during the fiasco.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWO8X6aJpXs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

West’s situation may seem like entertainment and drama to outside viewers, but this is really a serious situation — especially regarding the safety of all involved. Although no one can speak on West’s current mental health, his actions should not be taken as entertaining, funny blowouts. The feud between the three should stay private for the sake of all involved, including their children.

Alyssa Griffin, Molloy College

Writer Profile

Alyssa Griffin

Molloy College
English (Writing)

Alyssa Griffin is a senior at Molloy College majoring in English with a concentration in writing. She has a passion for expressing creativity through writing and hopes to pursue a career in writing or editing. They love expressing herself through clothing and especially funky earrings.

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