Kanye West has admitted that he really thought his wife Kim Kardashian might leave him over his comments about slavery.
Back in May, the rapper hit headlines for his controversial appearance on TMZ Live – in which he said, “When you hear about slavery for 400 years… For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”
The father-of-three’s statement sparked widespread backlash, and in a song called ‘Wouldn’t Leave’ from his new album ‘Ye’, Kanye alluded to the fact that his marriage was in trouble over his controversial remarks.
Speaking to The New York Times, Kanye revealed, “There was a moment where I felt like after TMZ, maybe a week after that, I felt like the energy levels were low, and I called different family members and was asking, you know, ‘Was Kim thinking about leaving me after TMZ?’ So that was a real conversation.”
Despite this, Kim stood by Kanye’s side by defending him on social media.
At the time, a source told E! News, “Kim and Kanye have a solid relationship, even with what’s going on right now. She loves and supports her husband. Even if they have differences in views and opinions, she knows his heart.”
Regarding the public’s response to his comments, Kanye explained, “I said the idea of sitting in something for 400 years sounds—sounds—like a choice to me, I never said it’s a choice. I never said slavery itself—like being shackled in chains—was a choice.
“That’s why I went from slave to 400 years to mental prison to this and that. If you look at the clip you see the way my mind works.”
In Kanye’s new album, the 41-year-old raps about contemplating suicide on the track ‘I Thought About Killing You’ – and this wasn’t just an artistic metaphor.
He told the NYT, “Oh yeah. I’ve thought about killing myself all the time. It’s always [an] option and [expletive]. Like Louis C.K.. said: I flip through the manual. I weigh all the options.”
“I’m just having this epiphany now, ’cause I didn’t do it, but I did think it all the way through. But if I didn’t think it all the way through, then it’s actually maybe more of a chance of it happening,” Kanye added.
