Bianca Censori Reportedly Tried to Leave Kanye West Before His Rehab Stay

 

Bianca Censori Reportedly Tried to Leave Kanye West Before His Rehab Stay

Kanye West and Bianca Censori's marriage has been under strain.

Following an apology ad in The Wall Street Journal and an interview with Vanity Fair addressing his past antisemitic remarks, a source close to the couple tells PEOPLE that Censori tried to leave West before he sought treatment.

"Bianca had been very unhappy in their marriage for a while and tried to get out a number of times," the source tells PEOPLE.

In an email interview published Wednesday, Jan. 28 by Vanity Fair, the "Heartless" rapper, 48, who has openly discussed his bipolar disorder disorder, claimed that he was in a "deep depressive episode" from an antipsychotic drug, and he ended up in "a rehab facility in Switzerland.”

"He's been in this vicious cycle for years. When he's not in a good space mentally, he tends to create so much drama, which then has lasting consequences," a West source tells PEOPLE of the Yeezy founder. "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."

John Monopoly, a veteran music industry executive and manager, best known for discovering and managing West since the early '90s, tells PEOPLE in a statement shared with PEOPLE that the "Stronger" performer is "in a great place and taking accountability for the things he says and does."

Kanye West and Bianca Censori in Milan in February 2024.

Arnold Jerocki/Getty

"For the first time in a while, he is really approaching his mental health head-on and making a valiant effort to deal with it. He really cares and he's trying to do better. I have bipolar and have been dealing with it for 31 years, so I understand how difficult it is," Monopoly said.

He continued, "The sanity is a thin line— being on the right side of sanity or not. I'm so happy and Ye's so happy and proud he's trying to do better and stay better for himself and everyone around him. I've known him since I was 16 years old. We started working together on beats and production and I've managed him since 1992. He's an incredible person who wants to stay on the right path."

A rep Censori did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Kanye West and Bianca Censori in New York City in June 2025.

BlayzenPhotos / BACKGRID

On Monday, Jan. 26, West shared an open letter (paid for by his Yeezy brand) as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal, claiming that his bipolar disorder caused his erratic behavior and antisemitic comments.

In the letter, he recalled a 2002 car accident that “broke my jaw and caused injury to the right frontal lobe of my brain." The disgraced rapper claimed that the interior neurological damage “went unnoticed” until 2023.

“That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis,” West wrote.

Elsewhere in the letter, he wrote, "I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”

The following day Vanity Fair ran an email interview with the rapper where he further reflected on his apology letter, claiming that he didn't truly understand "what I did while I was disconnected from my true self."

Kanye West and Bianca Censori in Los Angeles on Jan. 23, 2026.

BACKGRID

"Toward the end of my four-month-long manic episode, my medication was changed," he told the publication. "In that shift, the antipsychotic drug took me into a really deep depressive episode."

He noted that Censori "recognized that, and we sought out what’s been an effective and stabilizing course correction in my regime from a rehab facility in Switzerland."

West has made many antisemitic remarks attacking the Jewish population in recent years. Adidas ended its partnership with Yeezy in 2022 after West threatened to go "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE." He was also sued in 2025 by a former employee of his Yeezy brand, who alleged in a complaint that he compared himself to Hitler, threatened her because she was Jewish and claimed that he fired her one day after she reported his alleged conduct to her supervisor. West was court-ordered to pay over $76,000 of the unnamed employee's legal fees last fall; the case remains on hold.

Last year, West also defended Sean "Diddy" Combs (who is currently imprisoned after being convicted on two prostitution-related charges in July) and shared antisemitic comments in a slur-ridden rant praising Adolf Hitler on X. He was subsequently dropped by his talent agent, Daniel McCartney of 33&West.

West and Censori, 31, were initially romantically linked in January 2023 when they were seen dining together at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, per TMZ. The outlet reported at the time that the Grammy winner and Censori were married in an intimate ceremony earlier that month, though they didn't have a marriage certificate at the time.

Publicly, West has referred to Censori as his wife, even referring to her as his children's "stepmom" in a since-deleted January 2024 Instagram post.

West was previously married to Kim Kardashian from 2014 until their divorce in 2021. They share four children: North, 12, Saint, 10, Chicago, 8, and Psalm, 6.

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