After canceling the remainder of his Saint Pablo tour, Kanye West has been hospitalized for exhaustion. West's rep confirmed that the rapper was admitted to the hospital after Los Angeles police paid a welfare visit to West's home. According to Variety, the Los Angeles police responded to a "disturbance" call at around 1:20 p.m. on Monday, during which the law enforcement discovered a "medical emergency." The New York Times reported that a representative of West's, who was speaking under anonymity, said the rapper was "willfully taken" to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles for evaluation. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department told the Los Angeles Times they took a "medically stable" man to the hospital for further evaluation.
This news comes after a rough few days for West in which he made controversial comments about Donald Trump at a show in San Jose. He would later call out Beyoncé at a show in Sacramento that he arrived 90 minutes late to before walking off stage after two songs. “I’ve been sitting here to give y’all my truth even at the risk of my own life," he told the crowd. "Even at the risk of my own success, my own career. I’ve been sitting here to give y’all the truth.” The next day he would cancel his Los Angeles show hours before it was set to begin, followed by the entire tour, which was set to run until New Year's.
NBC Los Angeles reported the West was picked up from the home of his trainer Harley Pasternak, which is also reportedly where he made the call. In audio of the Fire Department dispatch, posted by TMZ, West's situation is referred to as a "psychiatric emergency." TMZ also reported that West — who released his album, Life of Pablo and two fashion lines this year — was being "evaluated for severe sleep deprivation." A source told People that West "is just exhausted and currently dealing with sleep deprivation."
“He went to the hospital at will under the advice of his physician," the source said. "He’s fine.” A another source also told the magazine that exhaustion was the reason West cancelled his tour.
"He's just exhausted. He's been working around the clock on fashion design, both his own line and the Adidas line. He's a notorious workaholic... so balancing both that work — which is extremely important to him — and the rigors of the tour every night, it really wore him out. All the time spent away from his family has been a stress on him, as well."
West's mother-in-law, Kris Jenner, commented on West's health at Monday night's Angel Gala, where Kim Kardashian was supposed to make her first official public appearance after her robbery. (Kardashian didn't end up attending.) In an interview with Extra, Jenner said, "He's exhausted, he's just really tired. He's had a grueling tour and it's been a grind so he just needs some rest." Us Weekly reported that Kardashian "rushed to be by Kanye's side."
While Kim Kardashian as not spoken out about West, other celebrities have started to send their love. Complex reported that, during a performance on BBC Radio 1 Chance the Rapper extended a "special prayer to my big brother Kanye West. I know there's a lot of weird folks out there but you already know that I'm a hundred grand," he said. Others on Twitter also shared support ,like Marlon Wayans who wrote, "And I hope u all pray for @kanyewest too. He's not just an artist but he's a father, a son a husband and above human." Andy Lassner, an executive producer at the Ellen Show, probably said it best: "The easy thing to do is make Kanye West jokes. The compassionate thing to do is hope he's ok and gets the help he needs."
West has also tweeted since news of his hospitalization broke: "Don't surround yourself with losers or you'll become one." This message was posted on the morning of Nov. 22, but it is unclear he tweeted this from the hospital where he was reportedly staying overnight.
Further information about his stay and his condition are hopefully soon to come.
