Kanye West and Kim Kardashian were struggling to keep up even before his November 21 hospitalization for extreme exhaustion. In the aftermath of the October 3 Paris robbery, during which Kardashian, 36, was tied up and held at gunpoint while thieves stole $10 million in jewelry, “it’s just been hell for them,” an inside source says.
While the reality star struggled to feel safe again, West, 39, returned to his 63-date Saint Pablo tour. But Kardashian, normally a backstage fixture, was too anxious to tag along. “The trauma of the incident made her more hesitant to do things,” explains the source. “Of course it strained their relationship, because she hadn’t seen him.”
When he was home at their 11,000-square-foot Bel Air spread with kids North, 3, and Saint, 12 months, West’s workaholic tendencies got the best of him. “He would be up all night ranting about things,” says a source close to the 21-time Grammy winner. “They were fighting because he was impossible to live with.”
Kardashian’s Paris ordeal left West paranoid and “completely freaked out,” says an insider. The fact that it happened near the nine-year anniversary of the loss of his mother, Donda, only deepened his distress. “The mere thought of his wife being taken from him was too much — it was like his mother’s death,” says a source close to West. “Seeing Kim close to death did a major number on him. It sent him into a tailspin.”
Kardashian, meanwhile, was enduring her own nightmares and flashbacks, say sources. But when she tried to lean on her husband of two years, she was disappointed. “She felt like now she needed him to be stable and her rock instead of the other way around,” explains the Kim confidant. “Kanye’s so used to getting Kim’s constant support and coding, but it’s always about Kanye.”
But then — as she was preparing to attend the November 21 Angel Ball in New York — she got that fateful call. West, who hadn’t slept “in about a week,” according to a source — was at the L.A.-area home of his trainer Harley Pasternak acting paranoid and psychotic. “He was having difficulty identifying what was real,” explains the source.
Despite the recent rocky patch, Kim sprang into action, setting up camp in West’s private hospital room at UCLA Medical Center. And though the incident was scary for the reality star, a source close to the couple says she thinks it will heal their relationship. “Kanye’s behavior took a huge toll on their marriage,” says the source. “But Kim feels relieved he is getting the help he needs. She thinks this is what it will take to save him — and help their marriage.”
