Kid Cudi Details “Heartbreaking” Falling Out With Kanye West: “I Don’t Know That Version of Him”
Kanye West was once a mentor to and frequent collaborator with Kid Cudi, but the “Pursuit of Happiness” rapper revealed that he cut West out of his life following several conflicts.
On CBS Mornings on Wednesday, Cudi explained that his and West’s relationship fizzled out. After he said the situation was “sad,” interviewer Anthony Mason asked him to clarify in “what way” the falling out disappointed him.
“The freedom that we experienced when we were creating, it just will never happen again, you know?” Cudi said. “And that is the heartbreaking side of things. But, hey, I had a lot of things in my life break my heart, and I’ve been able to survive and move past it.”
Mason then asked if West broke his “heart in some way” and Cudi admitted, “I think he has over and over, multiple times.”
You Might Also Like
Cudi went on to claim that West broke “the code of a friendship.” Mason asked if he could see himself ever reconciling with West, and the rapper explained that he and West have tried to work through their issues many times in the past.
“We’ve tried since then, you know? But we always have a falling out. He said some things that there’s just no coming back from. The comments that he’s had about Virgil Abloh are just some of the most evil, vile, disturbing fucking up things I’ve ever heard,” he said, referring to the several rants West went on against the late fashion designer on social media. Abloh died in 2021 at the age of 41 following a battle with cancer.
“Every time he took a dig at Virgil, it just made me super angry. Virgil was an angel to everyone; there’s no coming back from that, man,” Cudi said. “Like, I’m done with you, and it breaks my heart, because I loved Kanye, you know? I really loved him; he was a part of my life changing. And at some point, he was a really good friend, but the man that he has become, I just don’t know that guy anymore. I don’t know him. I don’t know that version of him, and it’s really heartbreaking.”
Cudi first met West a few years before he was signed to his G.O.O.D. Music label in 2008.
Despite once being good friends, the musicians faced many ups and downs in the public eye. In 2014, West used Cudi’s old vocals on Yeezus without asking him for permission. While Cudi publicly spoke out against West, the duo ultimately made amends and even reunited onstage for collaborations in 2016 and 2017.
However, their issues continued in February 2022 when West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, started dating Cudi’s friend Pete Davidson. “Just so everyone knows Cudi will not be on Donda because he’s friends with you know who,” West wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post at the time, tagging both Kardashian and Cudi.
Shortly after West made the jab, Cudi responded in a post via X. “We talked weeks ago about this,” Cudi wrote at the time. “You’re whack for flipping the script and posting this lie just for a look on the internet. You ain’t no friend. BYE.”
