Kanye West avoiding Met Gala because of red carpet ‘pressure’

Kanye West is reportedly skipping out on the Met Gala because of the "pressure" of the red carpet.

The 39-year-old rapper will leave his wife Kim Kardashian West to attend the flashy ball – which takes place in New York City on Monday (01.05.17) evening – alone for the first time since they made their debut in 2013, and sources now claim his decision comes as he believes he isn’t ready to deal with the "stress and pressure" of a red carpet after he was hospitalised for exhaustion late last year.

A source said: "It had nothing to do with the Met Gala. It was more about the stress and pressure of a big red carpet. He just wasn’t quite there yet."

But despite not attending the star-studded bash, the insider insisted the ‘Famous’ hitmaker is in "a much better place" than he was last year, and has made "good progress" in getting his mental health back on track.

They added to People magazine: "Kanye has been doing okay. He’s made a lot of good progress and is in a much better place."

Previously, it was claimed the star would be spending his evening looking after the two children he shares with the 36-year-old reality star – three-year-old daughter North and 17-month-old son Saint.

Another source said: "Kanye West will not be attending the Met Ball tomorrow.

"Kim will be flying solo. He’s still very much enjoying his time off from public events.

"He’ll be staying back in L.A. with their kids.

"Everything is great with him and Kim and he’s supportive of her going solo."

Last year the couple rocked matching silvery outfits, and the metallic dress Kim wore was actually a combination of two Balmain gowns created by Olivier Rousteing which fitted the party’s Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology theme perfectly.

Kanye revealed at the time: "Thank you Olivier for making 4 dresses for Kim to choose from which we chopped 2 in half (sic)"