According to Kanye West, Bianca Censori left him because of his troubling tweets. At least, that is what is implied by the lyrics to his new song, “Bianca,” off of his forthcoming album. The problem is, we’ve still never heard from Censori herself. It would be rational to imagine that West’s tweets, which have been incessantly and goadingly offensive, were a problem for Censori, but we cannot actually know because West is still speaking for her—even after they’ve broken up.
In the song, per E! News, West raps, “My baby she ran away, But first she tried to get me committed / Not going to the hospital ’cause I am not sick I just do not get it,” and, “She’s having a panic attack and she is not liking the way that I tweeted / Until Bianca’s back I stay up all night I’m not going to sleep / I really don’t know where she’s at.”
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin
Every time they made a public appearance together throughout the course of their relationship, Censori appeared as a silent and often mostly unclothed partner to West. This culminated in their stunt at the Grammys, where Censori wore a completely sheer dress that fully revealed her nude body. The couple reportedly left the event shortly after the pictures were taken, having apparently accomplished all that they intended to.
Because Censori has never commented publicly on her provocative outfits or her husband’s behavior, the cumulative effect of their appearances together on the public’s broader imagination is a troubling one. Censori has been presented to the world as a submissive sex object belonging to West, not as an individual person. West seemed to be using her as a prop.
Now we can infer from West’s lyrics the kind of agency Censori might have exerted in their relationship, but in reality, all this song proves is that West is still using Censori as a tool for his own art. If displaying Censori’s naked body was a means of capturing public attention, West is now capitalizing on that attention with his own narrative, told from his own perspective, to create monetary value for himself. Exploitation is a strong word, but is there another word that really fits here?
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