Kanye West has revealed that he has autism and believes he was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder – see what he had to say below.
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West – legally known as Ye – was diagnosed with bipolar disorder back in 2016. Now, however, the controversial rapper has refuted the diagnosis, chalking it up to autism.
Speaking on The Download with Justin Laboy, West revealed that his wife Bianca Censori suggested that he get re-diagnosed: “My wife took me because she said, ‘Something about your personality doesn’t feel like it’s bipolar, I’ve seen bipolar before.’”
“And come to find out, it’s really a case of autism that I have.”
Ye then explained that his autism diagnosis now helps him understand some of his erratic behaviour in the past: “Autism takes you to a Rain Man thing. ‘Oh man, I’ma wear this Trump hat because I like Trump in general’. And then when people tell you to not do it, you just get on that one point. And that’s my problem.”
“When fans tell me to do my album a certain way, I’ll do it the opposite way. It’s so difficult for them because this is like a grown man, you can’t tell him,” he continued. “You can’t take control of his bank account. You can’t control what I’m saying on Twitter. The constant feeling of not being in control, spun me out of control.”
Kanye West has also revealed that he’s since stopped taking his bipolar disorder medication as he believes it has been hampering his creativity: “I haven’t taken the medication since I found out it wasn’t bipolar, that it wasn’t the right diagnosis. It’s finding stuff that doesn’t block the creativity, obviously that’s what I bring to the world. It’s worth the ramp-up, as long as y’all get the creativity.”
The autism reveal comes just days after Kanye and Censori sparked controversy while on the red carpet for the 67th Grammy Awards – which was held in Los Angeles this past weekend (February 2).
Censori arrived with Ye and turned up in a fur coat, which she then dropped to reveal an almost entirely see-through dress and her nude figure underneath. The couple left the event shortly afterwards, with West later confirming that they had done so of their own volition and hadn’t been escorted out.