Kanye West addresses South Carolina rally outburst: ‘People didn’t know what I was crying about’
Rapper and producer appeared in a three-hour long podcast with Joe Rogan
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kanye West has told Joe Rogan about his controversial appearance at a political rally in South Carolina earlier this year.
The rapper and producer appeared in a three-hour episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, on which he recalled his behaviour at the political event, where he cried and made a number of shocking claims about his family.
Many people believed this was West experiencing a manic episode due to his bipolar disorder.
At the rally, he claimed that he and his wife, Kim Kardashian-West, initially planned on aborting their first child, North, now seven years old.
West told the audience in South Carolina that for a few months his wife had “the pills in her hand” while deciding whether to continue with the pregnancy.
Shortly after, West went on a Twitter spree where he claimed he was trying to end his marriage, and compared his life to the horror film Get Out.
Kardashian-West issued a statement urging people to show compassion for her “brilliant yet complicated” husband due to West’s mental health. West later apologised for his outburst.
“I cry [when I have a manic episode] and I was gut-wrenched at the – I don’t even like to say out loud what I said on South Carolina,” he told Rogan.
“The idea of – I’m trying to word it in a way which is safe and covers my family. People saw this clip of me crying and some people didn’t know what I was crying about.”
He continued: “I was crying about there was a possible chance, looking at a way there was a chance that we didn’t make, Kim and I didn’t make the family I have today.”
It was not entirely clear whether West was saying he felt his behaviour was due to bipolar or because he was genuinely upset about the subject of abortion.
West later said he felt there is a “culture” where some men feel as though they’re “too busy” to have children.
“I’m Christian so I’m pro-life. When I go into office, I’m not changing laws because I realise we live in an imperfect world,” he said.
West said he wants to present a “Plan A”, an apparent play on the Plan B morning-after pill, that would “change the connotation of orphanages, to change the connotation of foster care”.
“What I will be presenting is a plan A. ‘We’ve already started working on plan A to change the connotation of orphanages, to change the connotation of foster care.”
West is still continuing with his bid for the US presidency, despite polling at just two per cent.
He missed several deadlines in key states after failing to hand in the documents required to register.
Friends star Jennifer Aniston recently endorsed Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, as she warned fans that it was “not funny to vote for Kanye”.
“Please be responsible,” she said in an Instagram post encouraging her followers to vote.