Before Kanye West retreated to a rehabilitation facility in Switzerland, his marriage to Bianca Censori was already fraying behind the scenes. According to a source close to the couple, Censori had been quietly trying to leave the relationship long before West sought treatment for his mental health.
“Bianca had been very unhappy in their marriage for a while and tried to get out a number of times,” the source tells People. The strain came into sharper focus this week following West’s highly public reckoning, a full-page apology published in The Wall Street Journal and a candid email interview with Vanity Fair, both addressing his years of erratic behavior and ongoing battle with bipolar disorder.
© Backgrid/The Grosby GroupThose close to the rapper describe a cycle that has played out for years. “He’s been in this vicious cycle for years,” a West tells the publication. “When he’s not in a good space mentally, he tends to create so much drama, which then has lasting consequences.”
The fallout, the source adds, often arrives just as West regains clarity. “And when he reaches a more stable place, he becomes very aware of the damages he’s caused his family, friends and himself. The awareness brings this intense guilt and regret, making it hard for him to stay emotionally healthy. He understands what he’s done and that weighs heavily on him. By the time he’s feeling clearer, there’s already so much fallout.”
That emotional whiplash reportedly took a toll on his marriage. While West has publicly credited Censori with encouraging him to seek help, sources say the relationship itself was under significant strain.
© Splash News/The Grosby GroupIn spring 2025, divorce rumors surrounding Kanye West and Bianca Censori resurfaced amid reports that the architect wanted to leave the marriage but felt constrained by West’s influence.
According to Page Six, Censori was considering starting a new chapter on her own but was allegedly “frightened” by the degree of control West had over her life. “I think Bianca wants to break up, but it’s not easy. Kanye controls so many aspects of her life,” a source told the outlet.
The situation reportedly escalated when Censori attempted to create physical distance. “Bianca went to another hotel and someone narced it out,” the source said. “He sent the security guards over and wouldn’t leave her alone … this was about a week ago and now he’s left town.”
© Splash News/The Grosby GroupThe insider characterized her circumstances as restrictive and emotionally charged, adding, “She’s living under this aggressive situation. She’s gotta run, but he’s obsessed with her. It’s been hard for her to get [out on her own] and move around.”
At the time, TMZ reported that Censori had moved out of the Chateau Marmont, despite West having recently purchased a mansion in Beverly Hills, and noted the couple had been staying in hotels around Los Angeles.
© The Grosby GroupWest’s team strongly denied any impending split, with his representative Milo Yiannopoulos dismissing the reports. “Is this the fifth or is it the sixth time the press has wrongly reported that Ye and Bianca are separating? I’ve lost track,” he said, adding, “There is a person controlling what Bianca Censori wears. The name of that person is Bianca Censori. The ‘battered Bianca’ narrative is hysterical and absurd.”
Kanye's latest statement and Bianca's support:
In his Vanity Fair interview, published Jan. 28, the 48-year-old artist detailed the events that led him to rehab. “Toward the end of my four-month-long manic episode, my medication was changed,” he wrote. “In that shift, the antipsychotic drug took me into a really deep depressive episode.”
He added that Censori recognized the severity of the situation. “My wife recognized that, and we sought out what’s been an effective and stabilizing course correction in my regime from a rehab facility in Switzerland.”
© Backgrid/The Grosby GroupElsewhere in the interview, West emphasized the seriousness of his condition. “You must understand bipolar is a disease. It’s one of the most lethal nonterminal illnesses.”
On Jan. 26, West published an open letter in The Wall Street Journal, paid for by his Yeezy brand, in which he took responsibility for his past conduct. He attributed some of his behavior to a traumatic brain injury sustained in a 2002 car accident that “broke my jaw and caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain.”
He claimed the damage went undetected until 2023, writing, “That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis.”
© Matt WinkelmeyerResponding to criticism that the apology was a strategic move ahead of new music, West pushed back in Vanity Fair. His effort to make amends, he insisted, “isn’t about reviving my commerciality.”
“This is because these remorseful feelings were so heavy on my heart and weighing on my spirit,” he said. “I owe a huge apology once again for everything that I said that hurt the Jewish and Black communities in particular. All of it went too far. I look at wreckage of my episode and realize that this isn’t who I am.”
West’s recent efforts come after years of controversy. Adidas severed ties with Yeezy in 2022. He was also dropped by his talent agent, Daniel McCartney of 33&West.
Where the marriage began and where it stands:
West and Censori, 31, were first linked in January 2023 after being spotted together at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, according to TMZ. The outlet later reported they married in an intimate ceremony that month, though no marriage certificate had been filed at the time.
Publicly, West has continued to refer to Censori as his wife, including calling her his children’s “stepmom” in a since-deleted January 2024 Instagram post.
© Backgrid/The Grosby GroupWest was previously married to Kim Kardashian from 2014 to 2021. They share four children. North, 12, Saint, 10, Chicago, 8, and Psalm, 6. Kardashian has previously described how West’s manic episodes left her feeling unsafe “emotionally or even financially,” ultimately contributing to their divorce.
For now, West says he is focused on recovery and stability. Whether that clarity arrives in time to repair what was already breaking remains an open question.
