Kanye West Claims He’s Been Diagnosed With Autism

During a Tuesday episode of Justin Laboy’s podcast The Download, rapper Kanye West revealed that he’s been diagnosed with autism.

“I went to this doctor,” West, who now goes by Ye, began as he voiced the doubts he and his wife Bianca Censori had over his previous bipolar diagnosis. “My wife took me to do that because she said, ‘Something about your personality doesn’t feel like it’s bipolar, I’ve seen bipolar before.’

“And I’ve come to find that it’s really a case of autism that I have,” he continued, clarifying that he was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and that his new diagnosis has helped him better understand himself and when his “episodes” will come in.

“I watch for it beforehand, but other times it was just like, if you get to the point where it goes, you’re gonna stay in that position for a while. It might go for three days, four days a week,” he explained. “A lot of what was sending me into the episodes … the constant feeling of not being in control spun me out of control.”

The Yeezus rapper added that he hasn’t been taking any medication as he’s worried it would hinder his creative process.

“I haven’t taken the medication since I found out that bipolar wasn’t the right diagnosis,” West shared. “It’s finding stuff that doesn’t block the creativity, obviously that’s what I bring to the world. It’s worth the ramp-up, as long as y’all get the creativity.”

West was initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder after he was hospitalized for a psychiatric emergency in 2016.

He often spoke about the diagnosis in the years to follow, rapping about it on his 2018 track “Yikes” and disclosing the details of his episodes to David Letterman in 2019.