Kim Kardashian goes into lockdown amid Kanye West news
Kim Kardashian says her household enters “lockdown” when negative headlines about Kanye West surface, cutting TVs and live radio so their four kids stay shielded. She details the protective routine in Jonathan Van Meter’s new biography Citizen Kim, while describing a low-conflict co-parenting setup that often runs through West’s wife or manager.
Key Takeaways
- Kim Kardashian activates “lockdown” when Ye faces negative headlines or a mental health episode.
- Lockdown means no live TV or radio—only movies and phone music—so the kids avoid real-time news.
- She co-parents with West largely through Bianca Censori or his manager, according to Citizen Kim.
- Kardashian says she still worries about West daily but keeps conflict low for their four children.
What does Kim Kardashian’s lockdown mode involve?
In Billboard’s report on the biography, Kardashian explains that her whole household knows the drill when she texts that they are on lockdown. Live television is out; movies are in. Radio is replaced by music from a phone in the car.
Even Sirius XM is off-limits, she says, because it airs current events in real time. The goal, she adds, is simple: the children “don’t have to be a party to this.” The practice covers North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm when negative stories circulate about Ye, formerly Kanye West, or when he is in the midst of a mental health episode.
How does she co-parent with Kanye West now?
Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future, by Jonathan Van Meter, paints a picture of limited direct contact. Kardashian says she often communicates “through his wife,” Bianca Censori, or through West’s friend and manager. She still invites him over for dinners and sleepovers so the kids can see their dad at home.
“It is challenging co-parenting with someone who comes by every few months,” she told Van Meter, noting she sometimes frames absences as travel. She also said she will “sweep everything under the rug” so the children can maintain a relationship with their father. For more celebrity family updates, see our celebrity breaking news hub.
Kardashian told Van Meter the arrangement has been “pretty smooth for a while,” partly because they do not talk much. When they do see each other, she said, they exchange a hug. She remains close with West’s family and keeps an open-door policy for relatives who want time with the kids.
Why does she still worry about Ye?
“Oh, I worry about him all day. All the time,” Kardashian admits in the book. “That’s the father of my kids. I’ll never not worry about him.” She called that concern a burden of raising children with someone she does not always get along with—while insisting the kids would never know.
Her therapist, she said, urges stronger boundaries. Billboard notes she still worries amid continued backlash over West’s antisemitic hate speech, even as their co-parenting feels healthier in 2026. West placed a Wall Street Journal ad in January apologizing for and explaining his actions, according to Billboard.
Us Weekly’s roundup of Citizen Kim revelations also quotes her on protecting the children during West’s episodes and on wanting him “to win” and “shine.” She said she did not expect their split to become so public, and that she prays things improve—for her kids.
Kardashian and West married in 2014 and finalized their divorce settlement in 2022. In an October Sunday Times interview cited by Billboard, she said they are more aligned on North West’s music career, approving projects together. Billboard said it had reached out to Ye’s representative for comment.