Wendy Williams gave her take on the controversy surrounding Kanye West in recent weeks and revealed real concern for the rapper.
"I will tell you, I feel very, very bad for Kanye West," the outspoken daytime talk-show host said during a Q&A session for New York Magazine's Vulture festival on May 19, as reported by Page Six and Vulture, explaining that she believes he's "in the throes."
She spoke about Kanye after the event's moderators, "Las Culturistas" hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, asked her to share her thoughts on stars including Mariah Carey, Omarosa Manigault and the new Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. But instead of light-hearted quips or gossip-dishing about the troubled rapper, Wendy took a serious tone.
"I think that mental illness is something that is so real. A lot of people in jail right now, if they could've just gotten through some mental illness counseling, [they wouldn't be incarcerated]," Wendy told the crowd.
"His father is nowhere in the picture, his mom passed away [from plastic surgery complications in 2007] trying to beautify herself to be a stage mom" Wendy continued. "I'm not going to talk about his wife, his family or anything like that. But what I will tell you is that he's not well. That is the very foundation of everything he says. He's not well. I wish him well."
Kanye, of course, drew criticism and concern when he returned to Twitter last month after nearly a year away and repeatedly and strongly voiced support for President Donald Trump and blew off or criticized friends' unhappiness with his endorsement — and when he memorably described slavery as "a choice." Kanye also made headlines when he revealed he'd become addicted to opioids after having liposuction in 2016 before suffering a mental breakdown that November.
In the wake of growing controversy over his non-stop tweeting and a shocking interview he gave to TMZ, Kanye flew to Wyoming to continue work on several upcoming musical projects expected to be released next month.
But just weeks earlier, a source told The Blast that people around Kanye were afraid for him: "We are all worried about his current mental health." This was around the same time the rapper and fashion designer distanced himself from members of his management, legal and business teams and allegedly declared in a meeting, "Yeezy is the new Apple."
In early May, TMZ reported that Kanye was no longer taking his medication and that people around him believed his troubling behavior was a result of that. "We're told the meds have been problematic… doctors aren't even sure what works and what doesn't, and Kanye is controlling his own destiny by self-regulating… for better or for worse," TMZ wrote.
While speaking on "TMZ Live" on May 1, Kanye himself said, "These pills that they want me to take three of a day, I take one a week maybe, two a week. Ya'll have me scared of myself, of my vision… We are drugged out. We are following other people's opinions. We are controlled by the media. And today it all changes."
Though Kim hasn't responded to Wendy's comments about Kanye's mental state, she aggressively defended her husband on social media on April 25 in several lengthy tweets including one that read, "To the media trying to demonize my husband let me just say this… your commentary on Kanye being erratic & his tweets being disturbing is actually scary. So quick to label him as having mental health issues for just being himself when he has always been expressive is not fair."