Kanye West hospitalized for ‘psychiatric emergency,’ report says

Despite anonymously sourced claims that Kanye West was merely suffering from exhaustion when he canceled the remainder of his concert tour Monday, audio of an emergency call suggests he was hospitalized for a psychiatric condition.

In a nearly minute-long Los Angeles Fire Department audio file, posted at TMZ.com with the exact street address redacted, a dispatcher can be heard sending EMTs to a “psychiatric emergency.” TMZ said paramedics arrived at about 1:20 p.m. Monday at the home of West’s trainer, Harley Pasternak, in what KNBC-TV said was the 900 block of North Laurel Avenue in the Beverly Grove neighborhood.

Citing a police report, TMZ said West’s personal physician, Dr. Michael Farzam, had called 911 requesting help for a male named Jim Jones, 39 years old, 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, suffering from “temporary psychosis due to sleep deprivation and dehydration.” The report adds Farzam placed the patient on a 5150 psychiatric hold, referring to section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code. Under this, someone exhibiting a “mental disorder” or who is “gravely disabled” may be taken to a medical facility “for 72-hour treatment and evaluation.”

Law enforcement sources told TMZ that West, 39, had been behaving erratically, and that while he became calmer by the time paramedics arrived, he was advised by his management and by police to accept hospitalization. Per standard procedure, he was handcuffed to a gurney for transport to UCLA Medical Center.

KNBC reported that neighbors said security guards, fire trucks and police were at Pasternak’s house.

Celebrities including Janelle Monáe, Marlon Wayans and Emile Hirsch tweeted their support to West on social media Tuesday. “Praying for Kanye. Praying he has the right energy surrounding him during this time. Sending peace and love,” Monáe tweeted.

On Saturday, West had arrived 90 minutes late to his concert at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. After either two songs or three, according to differing reports, the rapper began a roughly 17-minute tirade captured on video by multiple audience members. In an expletive-filled stream-of-consciousness lecture, he ranted about Beyoncé and Jay Z, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Google, radio, MTV and other entities, then left the stage.

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He then canceled his show Sunday at The Forum in Inglewood, California, and on Monday called off the remainder of his Saint Pablo Tour, which had been set to conclude Dec. 30-31 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.