The town crier of our fair times, TMZ, rang their shiny little bell to announce some news to the world yesterday evening. Kanye West and Bianca Censori are “on the rocks” and heading towards divorce, TMZ reports.
Quelle surprise, considering that Censori has been West’s very public muse over the past two years of marriage, a literal mannequin parading Ye’s styling efforts across the globe.
But the muse that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and the Kanye West Bianca Censori relationship appears to have lasted roughly half the duration of his marriage to Kim Kardashian, who filed for divorce from the rapper in 2021.
According to TMZ’s “multiple sources with direct knowledge” Ye and Bianca have been telling people around them they split up “a few weeks ago”, with Censori heading back to Australia to spend time with her family. Here’s the story of their relationship.
A young architect is recruited by a mega-famous rap star
Bianca Censori
Censori hails from Melbourne, where she grew up in a well-heeled suburb and attended a local private school. She went on to study at the University of Melbourne to become an architect, before being hired by Yeezy as an Architectural Designer in 2020. She later went on to become Yeezy’s Head of Architecture by 2022.
Bianca Censori and Kanye West were first officially linked in December of 2022, shortly after his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalised, when Ye released a song entitled “Censori Overload” seemingly in tribute to his staff member.
It was clear things had turned personal by January 2023 when the pair were pictured eating together at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. West was apparently living in the hotel at the time.
Shortly afterwards it was revealed that they were actually married. On January 13, 2023, TMZ reported that the couple had “secretly wed” during a “private ceremony” in Beverly Hills on December 20, 2022, less than a month after West and Kardashian’s divorce was finalised.
Love, lust and misadventures in Nylon
This is when the weird outfits started. While neither Ye nor Bianca ever admitted that he was styling her, he has a long history of influencing the clothing choices of his other halves.
In an early clip from the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, West can be seen demanding that Kim throw out multiple items from her closet. “I always thought I had really good style, until I met my husband and he told me that I had the worst style,” Kardashian has said.
When the pair split and Kardashian began choosing her own outfits, West mocked her. “Kanye called me [after an event]. He told me my career’s over and then he showed me a picture of Marge Simpson wearing something similar,” she recalled on her reality TV show.
Censori’s outfits became gradually more extreme and revealing. First it was a whole body sock, with Bianca’s face shrouded in black fabric and surrounded by a cylindrical shawl, like a yassified member of the Bene Gesserit.
Then came nude vest tops and tights in place of trousers, or thongs and bikini tops. Eventually it reached the point where Censori was walking around holding nothing but a pillow to cover her body. These outfits would be worn even when Censori was simply walking around a city or going shopping, while Ye was frequently pictured shoeless.
Meanwhile, as everyone worried about the couples’ respective mental states, including growing concerns from Censori’s family, they were reported to be doing “amazing”. ““Things couldn’t be better for Kanye and Bianca,” an insider told Us Weekly in June 2023. “Kanye feels like he finally met someone who truly gets him and loves him for the person he is.
“Bianca complements Kanye on so many levels, and he loves that they can work and collaborate together on projects. He appreciates and respects her opinions, even if they don’t always agree. She really keeps him grounded, and he’s feeling better than ever.”
Censori was frequently pictured spending time with West’s eldest daughter, North, who he shares with Kim Kardashian. Meanwhile, Censori’s younger sister Angelica had embraced Ye as a brother-in-law, having travelled from Australia to hang out with them in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Angelina Censori also publicly defended Kanye, telling the Herald Sun that the rumours about his mistreatment of Bianca were “bullshit”. “We all support him,” she said. “We support his new album. We support his new clothes he’s dropping.”
Concerns for Censori’s wellbeing become unavoidable
Bianca Censori and Kanye West in Milan this February
AFP via Getty Images
Not everyone was convinced by Kanye and Bianca’s “happy” relationship. Gossip sites frequently reported on concerns from Bianca’s friends and other family members back home. In November 2023, Censori’s friends reportedly staged an intervention, begging their friend to “wake the f*** up.”
“She knows that she has shut out those close to her, and she is also starting to see through the smoky mirrors of her marriage,” a source told the Daily Mail at the time.
In late November, the US Sun reported that West and Censori were then “taking a break” from their relationship, with a source claiming, “Her family has never been a fan of Ye, and those close to her have questioned whether marrying him was the right decision.”
These rumours continued into March 2024, when it was suspected that Ye was still yet to meet Censori’s father. “Kanye has been invited to go to Australia and Bianca is hesitant to allow this to happen because she knows how her father will react,” a source told the Daily Mail.
Has Kanye become tired of his ‘muse’?
Now, six months on, the pair are apparently done for good, and it seems to have been Kanye’s call.
According to TMZ: “Ye and Bianca have been telling people around them they split up a few weeks ago, with the Yeezy architect heading down to Australia to spend time with her family since the split.
“While there’s no word on what prompted the split or who pulled the plug on the relationship, we’re told Ye has been telling people close to him he plans to live in Tokyo and divorce Bianca.”
The rapper has been spotted flying to Tokyo solo multiple times, as well as dining on his own in the city. The couple was last seen photographed on September 20, which means a nearly three week absence of pap shots of the once inseparable, paparazzi loving pair. In Kanye terms, that’s as good as dead.