Why Kanye’s public displays are really prolific digital abuse
“What we are seeing is one of the most powerful women in the world unable to get her ex to stop texting her”
If you have Instagram, (or even if you don’t) you will have seen all of the very public ‘drama’ surrounding celebrity ex-couple Kimye (Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) that has been trending all over the Internet since their divorce. It has once again raised the issues of how rampant and problematic online abuse is. Particularly since talk show host and comedian Trevor Noah has decided to speak out about the situation, which has shed more light on the issues on the gravity of domestic violence and this kind of behaviour.
Kanye West has 14.3 million followers on Instagram, and for the last few months he has been posting a string of posts on the subject of Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend Pete Davidson. (Whom he is now refering to as ‘Skete.’) As well as posting private messages from his ex-wife to his Instagram account.
On the surface, it may seem to some as Kanye West blowing off some steam, or even being romantic in his quest to regain Kim’s affections… but at the heart of what he is doing is a really nasty, aggressive message which is being aired to millions. It is clearly online harrassment, and becuase of the public perception of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s volatile relationship with the media - until now it has been overlooked and normalised, the subject of ridicule but not concern.
““What we are seeing is one of the most powerful women in the world unable to get her ex to stop texting her... Kim Kardashian and countless other women find themselves in a terrible position”
How did Kanye West’s online abuse start?
But this is not when Kanye’s abuse started, the rapper and designer had previously stated that the couples eldest child North was using TikTok ‘against my [his] will’. Kim responded to the situation with ‘Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanye’s obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all.” She added that Ye was making a healthy co-parenting relationship “impossible every step of the way.”
Kim had previously stated that she wanted to keep all matters during this very difficult and personal time private, however Kanye had other ideas about this, and posted ‘I WANT TO BRING MY KIDS TO MY HOME TOWN OF CHICAGO TO SEE MY BASKETBALL TEAM PLAY FOR 7 THOUSAND PEOPLE AND KIM IS STOPPING THAT HOW IS THIS JOINT CUSTODY?’
Since then Kanye has consistently been posting (and deleting) private exchanges between him and his ex-wife, which she has asked to keep private. This has included messages surrounding her new relationship with comedian Pete Davidson.
What is happening now?
The latest in the Kim-Kanye saga is Kanye’s music video showing him beheading Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend. Pete Davidson. The rapper faced criticism, following the the music video which accompanies the song “Eazy,” featuring rapper The Game.
The video features clay stop-motion figurines and shows Kanye beheading Pete Davidson and causing him harm. The music video, boasts the message “Everyone lived happily ever after except Skete.”
What did Trevor Noah say the online abuse of Kim Kardashian?
In a monologue on his talk show, Trevor Noah decided to speak out about the situation. Noah himself grew up in a situation where he watched his mother face domestic abuse from his stepfather on a regular basis. His mother survived an attempted murder, at the hands of her abuser.
Noah explained how dangerous the situation was becoming,“A lot of women realise when they do leave, the guy will get even crazier. What we are seeing is one of the most powerful women in the world unable to get her ex to stop texting her, to stop chasing after her." explained Noah “Kim Kardashian and countless other women find themselves in a terrible position because Kim asking Kanye to stop clearly isn't helping."
Since then West retaliated with a racial slur on Noah’s instagram page which led to West being suspended from Instagram. His performance at the Grammy’s was cancelled.
In response to the racial slur Noah said: "I've woken up too many times and read headlines about men who've killed their exes, their kids and then themselves. I never want to read that headline about you."
After sharing his story about the abuse he watched his mother face as a child, (his mother was shot in the head by her partner, and survived) Noah explained this made take Kim Kardashian's harassment seriously, "I'm not saying Kanye will [do something]. And I'm not saying Kanye is just a bad guy. But as a society we have to ask ourselves: do we wish to stand by and watch a car crash when we thought we saw it coming or do we go 'hey slow down, let's put our hazzards on because there is a storm right now'."
Why does this matter?
According to Amnesty International Online abuse is widespread in the UK with one in five women having suffered online abuse or harassment, their latest research has discovered. “Almost half of women said the abuse or harassment they received was sexist or misogynistic, with a worrying 27% saying it threatened sexual or physical assault.”
Most of the women they polled rated the response to online abuse or harassment from the relevant institutions to be inadequate. Only 23% of Facebook and 19% of Twitter users rated the platforms’ response in addressing online abuse or harassment as adequate, versus 41% and 43% who considered it inadequate.
Having witnessed harassed Kim Kardashian prolific harassment, it is important that we remember online abuse is traumatic, and stops many women from leaving abusice situations out of fear. Social media platforms have had the power to suspend Kanye West’s accounts, and have only done so recently despite Kim Kardashian being publically harassed for months. And that is the problem.