Kanye West tells ex-wife Kim Kardashian he is 'going away to get help'

Kanye West is stepping away from the spotlight amid his divorce from Kim Kardashian. Photo / Getty Images

Kanye West has told his ex-wife Kim Kardashian he is "going away to get help".

The 44-year-old rapper - who was married to the reality star, 41, from 2014 until 2021 and has North, 8, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 2, with her - caused controversy earlier this year with a stream of Instagram posts harassing Kim and her new partner Pete Davidson, 28, but will now reportedly step away from the limelight "for the sake of their kids".

A source told The New York Post's Page Six column: "Kanye told Kim that he's going away to get help. For the sake of the kids, Kanye has told Kim he's not making any public appearances or inflammatory social media statements, and he will go away somewhere to get better."

It is unclear whether he will go into a treatment facility or will simply stay at home out of the spotlight.

A representative for the rapper - who legally changed his name to Ye towards the end of 2021 - insisted he is currently focusing on having a "healthy co-parenting relationship" with his ex-wife.

"At this time, Ye is committed to a healthy co-parenting relationship with Kim and is focused on raising their beautiful children."

The news comes just a month after Kanye released a music video which appeared to show him decapitating and burying Saturday Night Live star Davidson. Before that, he had implied Kardashian had stopped "allowing" him to see their children after the divorce.

She responded: "Please stop with this narrative, you were just here this morning picking up the kids for school."

Last month, West was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours after using his platform to attack his ex-wife and her new boyfriend.

A spokesperson for Meta, Instagram's parent company, told TMZ West's posts violated their hate speech, bullying and harassment policies, the Daily Mail reported.

West posted on Wednesday he was "really concerned" the Saturday Night Live comedian would get Kardashian "hooked on drugs", demanding Davidson "apologise to your family for being in your family".

The rapper also aimed at talk show host Trevor Noah, who warned on the latest episode of The Daily Show the online feud between the former couple could get violent and was "terrifying to watch".

- Additional reporting NZ Herald