Ye and Bianca: A marriage built on controversy. Divorce on the horizon? Picture: Getty Images / Fraser Harrison
Rapper Kanye West, who refers to himself as “Ye”, is making headlines again for all the wrong reasons. This week, he was spotted in Los Angeles wearing a T-shirt with a swastika, a symbol of hate and antisemitism. The sighting sparked instant outrage, adding to the growing backlash against the controversial artist.
The shirt resembled the merchandise West recently sold on his Yeezy website. In a bizarre marketing stunt, he promoted it in a Super Bowl ad filmed from a dentist’s chair, urging viewers to visit his site.
However, Shopify pulled the store, citing policy violations, and condemnation poured in. As West continues to test boundaries, the question lingers: how much further could he go before there’s no way back?
In West’s world, where the line between pushing the boundaries and absurdity often blurs, a new chapter featuring his wife, the Australian architect Bianca Censori unfolds. Their marriage, which began in a private ceremony in December 2022, has been anything but conventional, with recent revelations shedding light on the peculiar dynamics at play.
The Citizen previously reported that the rapper and architect might be heading toward a messy divorce after their controversial appearance at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
Censori, who has a flair for the unconventional, is the head of architecture at West’s Yeezy design empire. While Yeezy is predominantly recognized as a clothing brand, West has expanded its scope to include architectural endeavors.
Architectural Digest reported that in 2018, he announced the launch of Yeezy Home, an initiative to develop affordable housing solutions. Censori is pivotal in these projects, contributing her expertise to Yeezy’s architectural ventures.
However, allegations that paint a portrait of a leader teetering on the edge of eccentricity and authoritarianism have tarnished her ascent within the company.
Former Yeezy employees have come forward with accounts that could rival the plot of a surrealist novel. One ex-senior designer described Censori’s transformation post-marriage as demonic.
ALSO READ: Kanye West and Bianca Censori facing divorce rumors
In early 2023, Censori, now West’s wife, took on a more authoritative role at Yeezy. Employees describe her as “cutthroat” alleging that she refused to sign contracts and exerted control over even minor yet crucial aspects of workplace conditions.
In a two-part exposé called Yeezy confidential, journalist Louis Pisano wrote that her initiatives reportedly included slashing lunch breaks for seamstresses who already endured grueling two-hour commutes.
“She turned into a demon,” the former Yeezy senior designer, who spoke anonymously, told Pisano. “She wanted to cut lunch breaks for all the seamstresses, even though we had to travel two hours to work every morning.”
ALSO READ: Bianca Censori: Styled or stripped of choice by Kanye West?
However, the quirks didn’t stop at labour disagreements. Censori allegedly engaged in behavior that left staff both baffled and bemused. She was known to pose peculiar questions about Jewish people, an inquiry that seemed as out of place as a tuxedo at a beach party.
Beyond work policies, employees recalled other unsettling behaviors.”Bianca was always doing weird stuff, like coming into our trailer and asking what we thought about Jews. And one time, she even stole my vape.”
Censori allegedly also began harassing people outside of Yeezy. “Oh, yeah. Not just employees, people in their lives too,” the former designer recalled “Since she became Kanye’s wife, she threatened people in Los Angeles, using her position. I got loads of messages from people with bad experiences.”
However, West also played his part. When the designer, who had been working remotely from Paris, returned to Los Angeles in February 2023, the work environment markedly intensified. The designer recounted enduring 85-hour workweeks, with expectations to produce three garments daily, often working overnight to meet Kanye’s demanding standards.
The designer recalled, “At one point, Kanye showed us a pair of intricate Balenciaga leather pants and said, ‘See, this is what I want you to make today.’ I told him, ‘That’s not gonna happen.’ And he was like, ‘Well, maybe tomorrow then.’ He has no idea how this work is done.”
Pierre-Louis Auvray, a former senior designer at Yeezy, also opened up to Pisano about the toxic and troubling work environment he experienced while working with the brand. Auvray detailed a culture of exploitation, harassment, and manipulation that was reportedly driven by West’s erratic leadership style.
Auvray explained how favoritism played a large role in the project assignments, with West’s unpredictable behavior often determining who moved up within the company. “He had his favorite people, and you had to do what they asked,” Auvray said. This, he noted, led to constant staff turnover and incomplete projects, leaving the team without direction.
Auvray shared that the work environment itself was highly stressful and hostile. Staff lived in fear of losing their jobs due to West’s volatile nature, with bullying and mind games allegedly being a constant presence.
“It was just about who Kanye liked on a given day,” he explained. “If you weren’t one of those people, you could be out in a second.” He also recalled how morale dipped after Kim Kardashian divorced Kanye in early 2021, describing the environment as “abusive and manipulative and people being overworked… the worst things you can think of”.
However, the issues went beyond just the work culture. Auvray shared disturbing accounts of Kanye making inappropriate and offensive remarks. He recounted a time when Kanye launched into a racist rant about Jewish people and made derogatory comments about Pete Davidson, who was dating Kardashian at the time. “He was having this rant about Jewish people, black people being the first Jewish people, and telling people that Pete Davidson had Aids,” Auvray recalled. “It was sickening.”
Additionally, Auvray alleges that Censori sent him disturbing, inappropriate and racist messages. “She sent things like an image of Edward Scissorhands renamed ‘Edward Niggerhands’ and graphic porn,” Auvray said. He added, “It was just bizarre, but I didn’t know what to make of it then.”
Moreover, Auvray described being pressured to design T-shirts with offensive slogans targeting Davidson. “I had to fight because I didn’t want to do it,” he said. “But there was pressure from five people in the group chat who would dip in and out, like Bianca, and I was like, ‘No, I’m not doing this.’”
These shocking revelations shed light on a deeply flawed company culture. Employees faced harassment, unethical requests, and a general lack of respect for their well-being. “It was like a cult,” Auvray said.
NOW READ: PICS: Naked gate-crashing and shocking fashion at Grammy Awards
Download our app
