Yes, Kanye West is back in the news - and this time it's not for praising Hitler.
But just who is Ye's new wife, and why is their relationship turning heads?
In late 2022, Kanye West embarked upon a very public descent into extreme antisemitism that
tanked his already fractured reputation and cost him a number of sponsorship deals.
That December, West sat down for an interview with Alex Jones in which he praised Hitler,
insisted that he was a Nazi, and denied the existence of the Holocaust.
Before that, he had been to dinner with both Donald Trump and known white supremacist Nick
Fuentes.
His Twitter account was also deleted after he posted a swastika imposed onto a Star of
David.
"It is so disappointing, because what's going on right now is the normalization of antisemitism."
During those months, West also finalized his split from reality star Kim Kardashian, who
first filed for divorce in February 2021 after West publicly accused her family of trying
to have him locked up.
TMZ reported West is set to pay $200,000 per month in child support for their four children,
who will mostly be staying with Kardashian.
They mutually agreed not to ask for any spousal support.
After finally leaving his seven-year marriage, however, the rapper seems to have dived into
a new commitment with a mystery woman called Bianca Censori - even if they aren't actually
legally married on paper.
After laying low over the holidays, Kanye West was suddenly spotted by TMZ with a mystery
woman in Beverly Hills.
What's more, the outlet claimed that the two had been seen together before.
They were photographed going into the Waldorf Astoria on January 9th, 2023, and three days
later, photos emerged of them eating dinner across from each other.
West's companion was soon identified as Bianca Censori.
Censori is an architecture graduate from the University of Melbourne.
She moved over to Los Angeles from Australia after West offered her the job of Architectural
Designer at Yeezy in 2020.
They were spotted shopping at Balenciaga together in January and were later snapped wearing
similar black outfits in February.
Of course, this isn't new territory for West — in the early days of his relationship
with Kim Kardashian, he acted as her personal stylist and gave her an edgy fashion overhaul.
The rapper also took actor Julia Fox on her own shopping spree during their fling, buying
her and four of her friends expensive Birkin bags as a surprise treat.
The new relationship between Kanye West and Bianca Censori became even more intriguing
when TMZ revealed that they had a secret wedding in January 2023.
Although the pair seemingly haven't filed any marriage documents yet, they exchanged
rings and spent a while honeymooning in Utah at the luxury Amangiri Resort.
An inside source told Us Weekly:
"Kanye and Bianca did have a small marriage ceremony, friends don't know if it's legal,
but it's very real to them."
The event was completely private - not even Censori's family was told beforehand.
A friend told The Sun:
"Ye had talked about having a wife again for months, living a Christian life, and cleaning
up his wrongdoings.
They snuck off, Ye cut his phone off and they made it happen and resurfaced married."
News of the mysterious ceremony reportedly prompted a worried reaction from the Kardashians,
who didn't comment publicly about the new happy couple.
Noting that the family didn't know whether this was an authentic move or a ploy for attention,
an unnamed tipster told Page Six:
"The family isn't taking this as a marriage yet."
"He deserves someone that can support his every move, who can follow him all over the
place and move to Wyoming.
I can't do that."
When the news broke about Kanye West and Bianca Censori's symbolic marriage ceremony, many
were curious about how his ex-wife Kim Kardashian would react.
In an Instagram Story posted on January 13th, just a few days after TMZ reported on West's
new relationship, Kardashian wrote:
"I'm in my quiet girl era, I don't have much to say.
Just much to do."
In another post, she said:
"Just remember, the black sheep usually turns into the goat.
People who want to see you win, will help you win.
Remember that."
Although TMZ called West's companion a "mystery blonde," Kardashian would have recognized
her from working with her ex-husband.
Censori had previously been employed by Yeezy for her architecture credentials in 2020 and,
according to the rumor mill, Kardashian wasn't a fan.
An inside source told Page Six:
"She's pretty.
And Kim hates pretty girls."
Kanye West isn't shy about working his real life into his art, as he has controversially
proven time and time again.
One of the most egregious examples of West working out his real life frustrations in
music led to him threatening Pete Davidson through the music video for "Eazy," which
showed a stop-motion animation version of the SNL comedian being decapitated and buried.
In December 2022, West unexpectedly dropped a new song on SoundCloud out of the blue,
titled "Censori Overload."
Although fans at the time assumed the title referred to West's struggle against his supposed
"censors," it became clear that it was actually a hint towards the surname of his new girlfriend.
The lyrics to "Censori Overload" reference the Bible's attitude towards sex before marriage,
implying that West may have proposed marriage to Censori because of his longstanding Christian
faith.
The song also seems to reference his divorce from Kardashian and suggest that his controversial
behavior was the reason for their split.
"The thing about me and Adidas is like I can literally say antisemitic s--- and they won't
drop me."
Kanye West lost a lot of fans due to his antisemitic remarks in 2022, which also led to his corporate
sponsors and partnerships cutting him off as well.
For example, Adidas terminated the Yeezy line, stating:
"Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous."
Other companies such as Gap, Balenciaga, and Vogue followed suit.
Forbes later estimated that all of this has knocked West down from his billionaire status.
The rapper's antisemitic comments might also mean that he's unable to visit Bianca Censori's
family in Australia anytime soon, as there's precedent for the Australian government turning
down visas over hate speech.
Far-right pundit Milo Yiannopoulos had his right to visit overturned in 2019, for example,
over comments he made about Islam.
Referencing West's pro-Nazi comments on an interview with Channel Nine, the country's
education minister, Jason Clare, said:
"People like that who've applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been
rejected."
Peter Dutton, the leader of the Australian Liberal Party, told the radio show 3AW that
he would definitely consider banning West over his inflammatory hate speech.
He insisted:
"His antisemitic comments are disgraceful, his conduct, his behavior are appalling.
He's not a person of good character and the minister has the ability to stop somebody
coming into our country of bad character."