\n<\/p>\n
Less than a week after his controversial appearance<\/a> on the Grammy Awards red carpet, in which his wife stripped down to an entirely sheer dress, Ye, the rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West, announced in a podcast interview that he had been diagnosed with autism.<\/p>\n Over the past few years, Ye has frequently mentioned a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which he alluded to on the cover of his album \u201cye\u201d in 2018, with scrawled green text that read \u201cI hate being Bi-Polar its awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n On the track \u201cYikes,\u201d Ye said being bipolar was not a disability but rather a superpower. That same year, in an interview with The New York Times, he said<\/a> he had been \u201clearning how to not be on meds.\u201d<\/p>\n But on an episode of \u201cThe Download<\/a>,\u201d hosted by Justin Laboy<\/a>, a former professional basketball player turned internet personality, Ye discussed his mental health and said he had been misdiagnosed. In the interview, which was released on Wednesday, he said that his wife, Bianca Censori, had challenged him to get a second opinion, and that he sought out a doctor who he said had previously worked with the singer Justin Bieber.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCome to find out it\u2019s really a case of autism that I have,\u201d Ye said.<\/p>\n \u201cAutism takes you to a \u2018Rain Man\u2019 thing where you\u2019re like, I\u2019m gonna wear this Trump hat because I just like Trump in general, and then when people tell you to not do it you just get on that one point,\u201d he added, making reference to the 1988 film starring Dustin Hoffman as a man with autism.<\/p>\n Messages to a representative for Ye seeking further clarity on the diagnosis were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n In 2020, Kim Kardashian, who was then married to Ye, defended the rapper in an Instagram post<\/a> after a series of erratic social media posts. In it, she attributed at least some of his actions to his diagnosis of bipolar disorder. <\/p>\n Two years later, Ye made a series of antisemitic and offensive comments that led Adidas to end its longtime relationship with him<\/a> and the Creative Artists Agency to drop him as a client.<\/p>\n On social media, the reactions to this week\u2019s podcast interview, in which Ye also discussed his upcoming album, \u201cBully,\u201d and the ongoing feud between the rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake, were mixed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In comments on the podcast\u2019s Instagram account, some users praised Ye for his openness and chattered excitedly about the new album, which he said will be released later this year. Others continued to criticize him for the barely there dress<\/a> he designed for Ms. Censori to wear at the Grammys.<\/p>\n On the social media platform X, other users voiced concern for Mr. West\u2019s mental health, with many noting that diagnoses of autism and bipolar disorder do not have to be mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n