Kid Cudi has officially cut ties with Kanye West, citing betrayal and a disrespectful jab at their late friend Virgil Abloh as the final straw in a fractured friendship that once shaped Hip-Hop collaborations.
In a sit-down with CBS Mornings that aired Wednesday (August 13), the “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper reflected on the end of his creative and personal bond with Ye, calling it both painful and permanent.
“It’s a sad thing,” Cudi told journalist Anthony Mason, who asked him to elaborate. “The freedom that we experienced when we were creating, it just will never happen ever again, you know? And that is the heartbreaking side of things.”
When pressed on whether West had broken his heart, Cudi didn’t hesitate. “I think he has over and over, multiple times.”
The two artists shared a prolific history, teaming up on the 2018 joint album Kids See Ghosts and co-writing tracks like 2008’s “Heartless” and 2009’s “Make Her Say.”
But their creative synergy eventually gave way to personal tension, especially as West’s public behavior grew more erratic and controversial.
In recent years, West has been widely condemned for antisemitic remarks and for publicly praising Adolf Hitler — moves that cost him major business deals and drew backlash across the industry.
Still, Cudi made it clear that it wasn’t just West’s public controversies that ended their relationship. It was a personal betrayal.
“He said some things that there’s just no coming back from,” Cudi said, referencing comments West made about Abloh, the late fashion visionary and former artistic director at Louis Vuitton, who died of a rare cancer in 2021.
“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 the emotional toll of watching someone he once considered a close friend change into someone unrecognizable was devastating.
“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.”