In line with the many memorable comments he’s made in recent weeks, Kanye West is, once again, publicly pleading for a reconciliation with Kim Kardashian.
Kanye — otherwise known as Ye — has spent the last month or so openly expressing his desire to be reunited with Kim, who filed for divorce in February.
And Thursday night was no different, with Kanye publicly declaring his hopes for winning Kim back while onstage at his and Drake’s “Free Larry Hoover” concert.
The momentous event — which marked Drake and Kanye’s first performance together since the beginning of their notorious decadelong feud — saw the rappers join forces onstage at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to raise awareness around the subject of prison sentencing reformation.
At one point during the benefit concert, Kanye took the opportunity to sing about Kim in a very public plea to be reunited with her.
Performing his 2010 hit “Runaway,” Kanye switched up some of his lyrics in a new verse directed toward his estranged wife.
“I need you to run right back to me, baby,” Kanye sang repeatedly, before finishing off with, “More specifically, Kimberly,” which was met with screams from the audience.
In the original song, which features rapper Pusha T, Kanye repeatedly sings: “Run away from me, baby / Ah, run away.”
Now, if you’ve been following this year’s Kimye drama, you’ll remember that over the summer, Kanye debuted lyrics seemingly about Kim onstage at his three Donda listening parties — all of which she attended with their four children: North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm.
At the first event, Kanye fell to his knees and wept while singing about “losing" his family. At the second, he hinted that Kim still had feelings for him, rapping: “Time and space is a luxury / But you came here to show that you're still in love with me.”
But while the Donda events saw Kanye make several subtle nods toward Kim, it wasn’t until last month that the rapper began to directly speak out about their failed marriage.
In his first public call for Kim back, Kanye appeared on the Drink Champs podcast on Nov. 5 and claimed that he’d “never seen” their divorce papers.
“My kids want they parents to stay together. … I want us to be together,” Kanye said.
Weeks later, Kanye doubled down on his comments while delivering a heartfelt speech at a Thanksgiving event. He admitted that he did things that were “not acceptable” during his marriage, before expressing his desire to be reunited with Kim and their children.
“We've made mistakes. I've made mistakes. I've publicly done things that were not acceptable as a husband,” he said. “But right now today, for whatever reason — I didn't know I was going to be in front of this mic — but I'm here to change the narrative.”
“I’m trying to express this in the most sane way possible, the most calm way possible,” he said. “I need to be back at home.”
Kanye went on to tell the audience, “If the enemy can separate Kimye, there's going to be millions of families that feel like that separation is OK.”
“But when God brings Kimye together, there's going to be millions of families that are going to be influenced to see that they can overcome the work of the separation, of trauma the devil has used to capitalize to keep people in misery,” he added.
And Kanye only made his desires clearer with his “Thanksgiving Prayer” shared on Instagram the next day, in which he opened up about how he’s been coping since the split while “taking accountability” for his mistakes throughout his marriage.
“All I think about every day is how I get my family back together and how I heal the pain that I've caused,” he said.
Kanye went on to admit that he’d “embarrassed” Kim and their family with his endorsement of Donald Trump and Republican image back in 2018, which was perhaps one of the biggest influences for their divorce.
“Good Lord, my wife did not like me wearing the red hat,” he said, referring to the MAGA hat he wore publicly while supporting Trump — most notably during a visit to the White House.
“Being a good wife, she just wanted to protect me and our family,” he said. “I made me and our family a target by not aligning with Hollywood’s political stance, and that was hard for our marriage.”
Kanye went on to reflect on his July 2020 campaign for the US presidency, which saw him publicly revealing during a press rally speech that he and Kim had considered an abortion when she was pregnant with their eldest child, North.
“I almost killed my daughter,” Kanye said in tears during his anti-abortion speech, which took place in South Carolina.
Addressing the comment in his recent Thanksgiving prayer, Kanye said, “I embarrassed my wife in the way that I presented information about our family, during the one — and thank God only — press conference.”
In the weeks that immediately followed Kanye’s Thanksgiving video — which was deleted from his page shortly after it was posted — Kim remained silent on the topic.
However, the KKW Beauty mogul surprised fans this week with an endearing public acknowledgment of her ex.
Taking to the stage at the 2021 People’s Choice Awards on Dec. 7, Kim — who won the Fashion Icon award — took a moment to thank Kanye for “introducing” her to the fashion industry during her speech — something that fans of the pair have long credited him with.
“Thank you to Zac Posen, who dressed me and took me to my first CFDA Awards, and so many amazing designers like Riccardo and Olivier that really believed in me… Well, probably were talked into it by getting a call from Kanye,” she said.
“Thank you to Kanye even, for really introducing me to the fashion world,” she said.
While Kim hasn't yet commented on Kanye’s latest plea, we can assume — if her recent acknowledgment of him is anything to go by — that the pair remain on amicable terms.
