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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Entertainment
Nardine Saad

What backlash? Kanye West is back to beating up an animated Pete Davidson in new video

Kanye West keeps telling us how he really feels about his soon-to-be-ex-wife's new boyfriend, Pete Davidson.

Just days after the rapper shrugged off criticism for a gory claymation sequence in his "Eazy" music video, Ye took another shot at the "Saturday Night Live" actor in the song's new official animation video. This time, a skinned monkey is doing the rapper's dirty work.

West — who has legally changed his name to Ye — and collaborator the Game debuted the new video Wednesday and it features CGI versions of the recording artists. During Ye's verses, in which he raps about his marital discord (aka "best divorce ever"), a skinned monkey pummels a person whose face is blurred.

But it's abundantly clear to everyone who's been paying attention to West and Kardashian's prolonged divorce saga who the figure is meant to be. If not, during the latest beatdown, Ye raps "God saved me from that crash so I could beat Pete Davidson's ass." And the figure is wearing a sweatshirt that says "Skete" — Ye's less-than-affectionate moniker for Kardashian's beau.

Fans on YouTube seemed to praise the video's artistry overall and its tribute to gangsta rap pioneer Eazy-E. Few seemed to take issue with the references to Davidson.

But that wasn't the case last week. Ye removed the original video for "Eazy" from Instagram after he was accused of threatening and endangering Davidson with the violent imagery that simulated the abduction, decapitation and burial of a figure that looks like the "King of Staten Island" actor. The original video is still alive and well on YouTube, with more than 4.7 million views.

The videos come as Ye has also been accused of harassing Kardashian online and the beauty mogul telling an L.A. court that his social media posts have caused her "emotional distress."

Earlier this month, "The Kardashians" star was declared legally single in court in an effort to help them both move on from their seven-year marriage.

Kardashian, who shares four kids with Ye, has been linked to Davidson shortly after she hosted "SNL" in October. The Skims shapewear founder opened up about their romance for the first time this week and her apparent plans to have the comedian appear on her upcoming Hulu reality series.

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