Kanye West Hospitalized in Los Angeles, Sources Say
— -- Hip-hop mogul Kanye West was hospitalized in Los Angeles Monday afternoon, an official told ABC News.
One source said the rapper has been suffering from exhaustion and sleep deprivation, and went to the hospital voluntarily and under the consultation of his physician. A rep for the star did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Further details were not immediately available.
Before West canceled the remainder of his Saint Pablo tour, he made a number of statements on stage and in a new interview that has left his fans both puzzled and outraged.
On Monday morning, the concert promoter Live Nation announced that West was canceling the remaining 21 shows of his tour and that all tickets would be refunded.
The news came a day after he unexpectedly canceled his Los Angeles concert just hours before it was a scheduled to begin and two days after he walked off the stage 30 minutes into a concert in Sacramento.
West's rep pointed to the statement from Live Nation when asked for comment.
But the 39-year-old hip hop artist said plenty before that on a variety of subjects before the cancellation of his tour. Here now is Kanye West in his own words.
Nov. 20
Surface magazine releases its interview with West conducted in between stops on the Canada leg of his Saint Pablo Tour. In the 30-minute videotaped interview, West touches on a number of subjects from how he does business to his artistic abilities to his views on the future of communication. Here are some highlights:
"I think business has to be stupider. I want to do really straightforward, stupid business -- just talk to me like a 4-year-old. And I refuse to negotiate. I do not negotiate. I can collaborate. But I’m an artist, so as soon as you negotiate, you’re being compromised."
"Maybe this will be an eloquent interview. It’s a 50/50 chance every time I open my mouth. At the end of the day, words get in the way. Regardless, whether you understand this or that, you know it’s 'Rain Man' sitting here." ["Rain Man" was a 1988 movie about an autistic savant.] "You just f------ know it’s 'Rain Man.' No matter what 'Rain Man’s' doing, you know, if you take him to that f------ table, he’s going to pick the right cards."
"This is turning into a 12-minute freestyle. Which is good. When I talk it’s like a painting."
"I think it’s my mutant handicap. All X-Men have a little handicap that helps them become X-Men. I didn’t know the term synesthesia until I was working on 'Cruel Summer' [West's 2012 compilation album]. Halfway into writing that, I really understood that my entire life I had been trying to describe this condition of mine: through painting, through this seven-screen Surround Vision film we shot in Qatar, through all these things. ...I guess this is the difference of a visionary -- they have X-ray vision. They can see past the surface, and they can also see into the future."
"I don’t think people are going to talk in the future. They’re going to communicate through eye contact, body language, emojis, signs. Imagine that. If everyone was forced to learn sign language ... I would prefer to do that without having to use words. It’s funny because I’ve made a living off of words, but words get in the way of what you really want to say."
Nov. 19
At his Sacramento concert Saturday night, West started late and ended early after performing just three songs and going on an extended rant about politics and President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and longtime collaborator Jay Z.
"A lot of people here tonight felt like they lost," he said early in his speech, apparently referring to the presidential election. "You want to know why? Because y'all been lied to. Google lied to you. Facebook lied to you. Radio lied to you."
"It's a new world, Hillary Clinton. It's a new world, Barack. It's a new world, Jay Z," he said.
He said that he had heard that Jay Z's wife Beyonce had told the MTV Video Music Awards that she would not perform unless she won a particular award.
"Beyoncé, I was hurt. I heard that you said you wouldn’t perform unless you won video of the year over me and ‘Hotline Bling,’" he said referring to Drake's song, which was also nominated.
"But sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forget who we are just to win," he said.
He then asked Jay Z to call him and talk to him "like a man."
"I know you got killers. Please don’t send them at my head," he said.
Nov. 17
West first got fans riled up last Thursday at his concert in San Jose, California, when he revealed that not only had he not voted in the presidential election but if he had voted, he would have voted for Donald Trump.
Halting his performance several times during the course of the night, West went on extended rants about politics and more.
"That don't mean that I don't think that black lives matter," he said. "That don't mean I don't believe in women's rights."
"I wanted to say that before the election, but they told me, ‘Whatever you do, don’t say that out loud,'" he added.
"Not only did I not vote, but there were a lot of things I actually liked about Trump’s campaign," he said. "His approach was f------ genius -- because it worked."
West also had a blunt message about race relations. "Specifically to black people," he said. "Stop focusing on racism. This world is racist, ok."
