"There are a few of these [Kanye also apologised to Bruno Mars on the same day]. Narcissists take offence easily and many of their spats involve anger, leaving them in the position of having to say sorry. And what's interesting here is that it's like he's lining up the apologies to get them out of the way, because this is clearly a recurring feature in his life, questioning whether his apologies are heartfelt.

"With Beck [and, previously, Taylor Swift], he was angry at Beyoncé not winning an award, and that's complicated. He could be saying: 'I'm not saying I should have won, I'm saying someone else should have won it, but definitely not you.' He's imposing his opinion on everyone else, because he doesn't like opinions that are different from his own. Or what he equally might be saying is: 'Beyoncé should have won it, but actually, as you know, I'm more talented than Beyoncé.' It's a stepping stone towards achieving his desired effect, which is getting himself up there. To do that, he needs to bring people down and elevate himself. He's going through the first stage here."