Kanye West makes a bold statement during his first reappearance in public at the Rick Owens furniture exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California. He wore a simple get-up but his hair is now blonde. This was 13 days after he was released from the UCLA Medical Center where he received treatment for exhaustion and sleep deprivation.
The rapper was admitted last Nov. 21 but has since, evidently, been feeling better and on the way to a full recovery, as reports say he has been making music again. Kanye West is said to have his creative juices flowing better and was even out biking with friends. But he continues to receive treatment on an outpatient basis, and all in all keeping a low profile.
A source shared with E! News, "[Kanye] will remain getting outpatient treatment until he is fully recovered. Kim wants him to continue getting therapy even after all of this. He has support from so many people."
A lot of fans are speculating though about the drastic change in hair color that the showman sported after what many viewed as a meltdown. As expected, many of these fans turned to Twitter to post their varied opinions and conjecture, giving birth to the hashtag "#blondye."
One fan suggested Kanye West may be "going through something." Laurie Daniel, who works in a salon in New York, gives an insightful explanation.
She says, "Whenever someone comes in and suddenly wants a major color change out of nowhere, it usually means something is up. A divorce, a breakup, a crisis of some sort."
She mentions certain stars who have made similar drastic changes in their hair style or color after certain "crisis" situations: Lindsey Lohan turned brunette after a hard year of rehab and encounters with the law, Britney Spears shaved her hair off during a difficult divorce and custody fight, and so on.
And so the inevitable question is, after a new look and getting back to writing new music, what crisis could Kanye West be going through; what else is new? Although there have been rumors going around about a divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian, nothing has really been reported in that area to confirm this. So this isn't about a new wife, or even about no longer having a wife.
An expert psychologist with background studies on fame and celebrity, Donna Rockwell, said about Kanye West's bold new look, "Changing our look can be very empowering to us. You have Samson. He was this big, burly fellow, but his strength was in his hair. He lost his power when his hair got cut. Hair is how we define our strength, prowess, identity."
In short, Kanye West wants everyone to know, he still decides what he gets to do with his life and will not be controlled by public opinion. Or he could just be showing support for Frank Ocean who was not shortlisted on the Grammy nominees list for "Blonde."
