Share

Kanye West reportedly attacked trainer before being hospitalised


Los Angeles - Kanye West has reportedly been having hallucinations and viciously lashed out a member of staff at the gym during his "psychotic breakdown" on Monday.

The Bound 2 hitmaker was sectioned with a 5150 hold, which authorises a qualified officer to involuntarily confine a person suspected to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themselves or a threat to others, after he began acting "erratically" at his personal trainer Harley Pasternak's home at around 13:20.

Kaye Switzer - who lives nearby to the where Kanye was training - told the DailyMail.com: "I was walking my dogs and as I walked up the street I saw SUVs, security guards and people everywhere - all looking so serious. 

"I saw fire trucks parked across the top of the street and I saw Harley standing outside looking so serious. There was a car out the front which said it belonged to a home call private doctor. Everyone standing around for about an hour and then the police arrived.

"One of the fire trucks backed right up Harley's drive - you could see him [Kanye] coming out [of the home] on a gurney [a wheeled medical stretcher]."

Kanye's private doctor had reportedly informed the emergency services that there was a "psychiatric emergency" but gave responders an alias for the 39-year-old rapper, saying he was a man named Jim Jones who "suffers from temporary psychosis".

However, once the emergency services arrived, Kanye had to be handcuffed to the stretcher and was taken to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, via ambulance for a psychiatric evaluation after he tried to resist paramedics. 

Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian West - who has retreated from the limelight after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris last month - was supposed to make her first official public appearance since her attack on Monday at Denise Rich's Angel Ball.

But, after she learnt of Kanye's disturbing mental state, she cancelled her highly-awaited appearance in New York with her family and rushed to his bedside.

It's believed Kanye has been falling down a slippery slope for a while and has been battling with stress, anxiety and paranoia following the robbery in France in October.

A source said recently: "It was a combination of a lot of issues: stress, anxiety, paranoia. He just broke. There have been signs recently of him just overwhelmed. He has a lot going on: multiple fashion lines, the tour, his business, being a father. And then the Paris incident also threw him for a big loop."

As well as dealing with his wife, with whom he has two children; daughter North, three, and 11-month-old son Saint, and her anxiety after the armed robbery, it's also coming up to the ninth anniversary of Kanye's mother Donda West's death.

The insider explained: "His mother passed away this time of year. So, there is a lot going on right now. Kanye hasn't been himself for a while ... Before Paris, there were a lot of things Kanye committed to work wise that he couldn't cancel."

Kanye set tongues wagging over the weekend when he cancelled his show at The Forum in Los Angeles just a few hours before he was expected to go on stage.

He has since pulled the plug on the remaining 21 dates of his Saint Pablo tour. 


We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE