TYSON , DRAKE& NICK PUSH KANYE OVER THE EDGE

was trying to stick up for Kim,” an insider explains of Kanye’s Sept. 20 tirades on social media that instantly went viral. (“As men, all three of ya’ll come talk to me,” he taunted them at one point.) Problem is, Kim wasn’t impressed. “He didn’t make things better — he made them worse,” says a source. Indeed, Nick responded to Kanye the same day in his own Instagram video: “You’re not gonna tell me what I can and can’t say.” Expect a clapback from Kanye in 3… 2…1… one of the final straws for the belea- guered mother of North, 5, Saint, 2, and 8-month-old Chicago. Kanye’s outlandish behavior — dissing pals Jay-z and Beyoncé during a con- cert, calling slavery a “choice” in an interview with TMZ, bursting into tears at a Paris fashion show in June — have long irked the cool, calm and collected reality star. But for Kim, the latest stunt was so unforgivable, she decided to walk away despite the fact that another baby is on the way: The same week as the social media posts, Kanye announced at a Chi- cago charity event for high school kids that he’d be moving back to the Windy City, his hometown. “Moving to Chicago is a huge slap in the face,” says the source, “and there’s noth- ing else left for Kim to do but to end the marriage once and for all. That was the ultimate betrayal: getting up and leaving Kim and the kids and an- nouncing it to the world.” matter, but Kanye was incensed,” says the source. “They had a huge blow-out fight. They both accused each other of horrible things and said stuff they can never take back.” It’s one of many tense moments they’ve had recently. “Things were getting to the stage where Kim and Kanye couldn’t stand the sight of each other,” says an insider. And Kanye’s unpredictable behavior was at the root of their issues. The rap- per has recently opened up about his battle with bipolar depression, and Kim has tried to be patient through all of his struggles. But lately, says the insider, “Kim reached her limit.” His May TMZ interview about slavery was a particularly sore spot — so bad even Kanye thought they

were through. “There was a moment where I felt like after TMZ, maybe a week after that, I felt like the energy levels were low,” he later told New York Times, “and I called differ- ent family members and was asking, you know, ‘ Was Kim thinking about leaving me after TMZ?’ So that was a real conversation.” MISMATCHED PAIR Kim, a shrewd, quiet businesswoman, and Kanye, a loud, opinionated artist, have never really been on the same page. “We’re definitely opposites,” Kim has said. “I calm him down and he pumps me up.” So it came as a surprise to the world when they began dating in 2012, following Kim’s split from basketball player Kris Humphries. (She was also wed to music producer Damon Thomas from 2000 to 2004.) The two had known each other for nearly a decade — Kanye recorded a song with Kim’s then-close friend Brandy in the early 2000s — and after Kim’s split from Kris, he swept her off her feet. “I was feeling really low and down, and [Kanye] said, ‘Just come to Paris and see my fashion show,’” Kim later recalled. But the excitement of their globe- trotting romance couldn’t last. Kim soon realized that Kanye could and would blow up at any moment. “He’s like a volcano ready to erupt, but no one knows when or how much damage it will do,” says the insider. Indeed, over the years, he stressed out Kim with his onstage antics ( he threatened to “piss” on the port-potties at Bonnaroo in 2014), strange claims (in 2016, he alleged he was $53 million in debt and pub- licly asked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for a loan) and genius complex ( he’s compared himself to everyone from Steve Jobs to Walt Disney). But — like the one he suffered in the driveway of his trainer, Harley Pas- ternak, in 2016 that resulted in a hospital stay — that leave her petri- fied. “She’s actually terrified that he could do something drastic,” says the insider. “Or he may say he wants to take the kids to Chicago with him, but that’s never going to hap- pen. Kim wants full custody.” Indeed, after years in the Kar- dashian family, Kanye knows where the proverbial bodies are buried. “Kim is worried sick that he’ll go off the rails and expose all her darkest se- crets after she files for divorce,” says the source. “She has already spoken to Kris about hiring a crisis manager to protect the family from Kanye.” There may be a huge fight over money, too, considering their combined net worth is a billion dollars. But the positives of her decision outweigh any potential negatives. Multiple sources say she felt she needed to split from Kanye for her own sanity after years of walking on eggshells. “The only bright spot, if there is one, is that Kim is re- lieved that the divorce is finally go- ing to happen,” says the insider. “It’s been a long time coming, and now it’s finally over.”

Once again, Kim is

on her own. She’s distraught”

— AN INSIDER