Kanye West Kim Kardashian
Credit: Pierre Suu/Getty Images

When it rains, it pours and while we’ve heard little from Kanye West since his divorce from Kim Kardashian in February, the rapper is all we could talk about this weekend. It began on Thursday night when West held the third listening event for Donda in his hometown of Chicago at Soldier Field. Not only did DaBaby and Marilyn Manson make a very controversial appearance, Kim Kardashian wore the closing look of Baleciaga’s recent haute couture collection to reenact her vows on stage.

Why? West has been telling the public he and Kardashian are reuniting after a very public divorce. According to a source for Page Sixthe claims are false and were spread only by the rapper.

“Kanye has been telling other rappers that he and Kim are back together, but everybody knows that isn’t true,” an insider told the publication. “The real story is that Kanye wants to beat Drake in record sales, and he is putting on a big show of performance art to grab all the media attention.”

“Kim is a nice person – while she and Kanye are not back together – she’s happy to support him in his work and his art, she wants a good relationship with him for the sake of their children,” the source added.

According to another insider for E! News however, Kardashian had no idea DaBaby (who has faced criticism for homophobic remarks) and Manson (who is an alleged sexual abuser) would appear in Thursday’s show.

“She would never have participated in something if she knew Manson was a part of it,” the person told the outlet, per The Sun.

Kanye West DONDA
CHICAGO, IL – AUGUST 26: DaBaby, Kanye West and Marilyn Manson perform during the Kanye West Donda event on August 26, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Brian Prahl/MEGA/GC Images)

Today the highly-anticipated album, Donda, which is named after his late mother was released onto streaming platforms worldwide. West is notorious for staying off Instagram but today published a post which claims his record label published the album without permission and failed to include a track (which was later released).

“UNIVERSAL PUT MY ALBUM OUT WITHOUT MY APPROVAL AND THEY BLOCKED JAIL 2 FROM BEING ON THE ALBUM,” he posted to his 7.8 million followers. “Jail Pt 2” features DaBaby and Manson.

Featured artists from the 27-strong tracks include The Weeknd, Lil Baby, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Lil Yachty, Jay Electronica, Playboi Carti, Baby Keem, Young Thug, Lil Durk, the late Pop Smoke, Jadakiss, Jay-Z, and a sample of Lauryn Hill.

Despite the bizarre circumstances surrounding the album, it has received mixed reactions by fans, while critics haven’t completely torn it apart. NME dubbed the project as “some gems among lots – and lots – of filler”. On social media one user said, “This album is fire tho.”

In another news from the 44-year-old, the artist recently filed official court documents to have his name changed to “Ye”.