Kim Kardashian and Kanye West split: A look back at their romance
After months of speculation, Kim Kardashian officially pulled the plug on her marriage to Kanye West. The reality star filed for divorce on Friday after nearly seven years. They share four young children. According to reports, things are "amicable" between the estranged pair.
Kardashian, 40, and West, 43, have a long history, well before their lavish wedding in May 2014. Take a look back at how Kimye came to be.
2003
Kardashian "vividly" remembered when she met West for the first time, recalling the moment during E!'s 10-year anniversary special of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
"He was recording a song with Brandy, and I was her friend," Kardashian told Ryan Seacrest. The reality star dated Brandy's brother, Ray J.
"I vividly remember hanging out with him, and then they did a video together, so I'd see him a few times. He was asking his friends: 'Who is this Kim Kardajan?' He didn’t know what my name was,” she shared.
West later told momager, Kris Jenner, it was "definitely" love at first sight.
2008
Kardashian and West appeared onscreen together for a pilot, Alligator Boots. She said this is the first time they really connected.
"In honor of Star Wars: The Force Awakens being released today, I wanted to share these old pics of Kanye and me from years ago!" Kardashian wrote on her blog in 2015. "We worked together on a pilot for a show called Alligator Boots back in 2008 and I played Princess Leia. We had met before this project (back in 2003), but I would say this is when we first really connected."
2010
West made a cameo in the KUWTK spinoff, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, after he split with model Amber Rose.
2011
Kardashian married Kris Humphries, despite revealing she had feelings for the rapper at the time. The reality star recalled showing her wedding ring off at an event and said West's face looked "heartbroken."
"You know, I f***** up, and went a different direction, and realized that I f***** up pretty soon... You know, we look back now, and I guess him and his best friend had a convo, and he was like, 'Dude, like, we're at a restaurant together. She just got married two weeks ago,'" she said three years ago. "Nothing went down, nothing happened, but then I went to New York and started filming and I was like, 'You're right, I'm miserable. I made the wrong decision.'"
Kardashian admitted she and West "were talking" right before her 72-day marriage to the NBA player.
"I just went a different direction," she explained. "I think I had to go through that to figure out what I wanted. After my breakup, I was feeling really low and down and he said, 'Just come to Paris and see my fashion show.' He jokes that he put on this whole fashion show just to get a date with me. So I went there and I stayed with him, and that’s where we started dating. I swear from the moment I landed, I fell madly in love with him and I thought, 'Oh my God, why didn’t I do this sooner?' Like, this is what real life is like — love and fun and real support."
Their budding relationship certainly didn’t surprise their exes.
Humphries tried to serve West with papers amid his divorce from Kardashian — which lasted much longer than their marriage. Rose publicly claimed the "Runaway" singer cheated on her with the reality star, calling her a "homewrecker."
April 2012
After months of speculation, Kardashian and West finally took their relationship public. West also referenced their romance on the track "Cold."
"And I'll admit, I had fell in love with Kim / Around the same time she had fell in love with him," he rapped, referencing Humphries. "Well that's cool, baby girl, do ya thang / Lucky I ain’t had Jay drop him from the team." (Jay Z used to own a stake in the Brooklyn Nets.)
Dec. 2012
West surprised the world — and his girlfriend — when he referred to Kardashian as his "baby mama" onstage during a concert. The TV star confirmed pregnancy news the following day.
"It's true!! Kanye and I are expecting a baby," she wrote. "We feel so blessed and lucky and wish that in addition to both of our families, his mom and my dad could be here to celebrate this special time with us. Looking forward to great new beginnings in 2013 and to starting a family. Happy New Year!!!"
Summer 2013
Kardashian and West welcomed their first child, daughter North, on June 15. The couple seemed closer than ever in the months that followed.
"My grandfather just passed," West explained in August on Kris Jenner's short-lived talk show. "And his whole thing was never about money, was never about popularity, his whole thing was joy. Just joy, like having joy in his life. And she’s my joy and she brought my new joy into the world. And there's no paparazzi and there's no blog comment, there's nothing that is gonna take that joy from me."
October 2013
For her 33rd birthday, Kardashian got quite the gift: a 15-carat Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring.
West popped the question in typical, extravagant fashion as he rented out AT&T Park baseball stadium in San Francisco for the proposal. He flew in her family, close friends — and E! cameras — for the occasion.
The rapper admitted he thought renting out the ballpark "would be dope."
"If I wanted to be romantic, I would have gone to a small restaurant or something," he told L.A.’s Power 106.
2014 - 2015
Kardashian and West tied the knot at Fort di Belvedere in Florence, Italy, capping off an extravagant wedding weekend in Europe. The newlyweds spent the next several months in newlywed bliss, and they also grew their family. The superstars welcomed their second child, son Saint, in Dec. 2015.
2016 - 2017
The couple faced their first serious challenges in their marriage. Kardashian was robbed and held at gunpoint while in Paris in October 2016. Approximately $11 million worth of jewelry was stolen. West postponed his tour dates in order to be by his wife's side, but he soon faced challenges of his own.
In November 2016, West had a breakdown and was hospitalized. Sources confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment that Kimye's marriage was under strain in the weeks that followed. People reported in early 2017 that things were "not great" in their relationship, but the duo rebounded.
"Things were just awful between the two of them, but also with both of them separately," a source told the magazine. "It was like for the first time, they just weren’t happy. I don’t think they were happy separately, and I know they weren’t happy together. … She kept saying, 'If we can get through this, we’ll be stronger than ever.'"
2018
In January, the couple welcomed their third child via a surrogate, daughter Chicago. But Kimye's relationship continued to be tested as West publicly struggled with mental health issues.
After a series of headline-making interviews, including saying slavery sounded "like a choice," West confirmed he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Kardashian stood by him, something he rapped about on the track "Wouldn't Leave."
2019
Kardashian remained relatively tight-lipped about her husband's diagnosis, but opened up to Vogue about his mental health. She revealed he won't take medication for his bipolar disorder as he feels it hinders his creativity.
“It is an emotional process, for sure. Right now everything is really calm. But we can definitely feel episodes coming, and we know how to handle them,” Kardashian explained. "But I think some of the hurtful things that I read online. ... What is she doing? She’s not stopping him. ... Like it’s my fault if he does or says something that they don’t agree with? That’s my husband. I share every opinion that I have and let him know when I think something's wrong. Or if it comes to him being in the middle of a bipolar episode, I'll do everything to be supportive and help to calm the situation."
The couple renewed their wedding vows after welcoming their fourth child, and second via surrogate, Psalm.
2020
There was no shortage of signs that Kimye was in trouble last year. But it all came to a head in July, shortly after West announced he was running for president. At his first campaign event, the rapper announced that they had considered aborting their first child, North West. Twitter rants followed, with West claiming Kardashian was trying to “lock me up” and he claimed he had been trying to divorce her since 2018. He even compared his mother-in-law to a dictator.
Kardashian made a rare statement about her husband's mental health, calling for “compassion and empathy,” explaining he was in the midst of a bipolar episode. Divorce rumors swirled, but they put on a united front. That abruptly changed in December. Multiple reports surfaced in the press about the couple's "separate lives."
2021
In January, Yahoo confirmed that Kardashian and West's marriage was essentially over. The reality star was spotted without her wedding ring on multiple occasions and it was leaked that she hired famed divorce attorney, Laura Wasser. On Feb. 19, Kardashian filed for divorce. The estranged spouses have reportedly agreed on joint custody for their four kids.
"Kim was just tired of waiting. She tried to give it a chance. She wanted to do this last year. She gave it plenty of time but it's just time to move on," a source told E! News. "There were no affairs. No one did anything bad. They grew apart."
The divorce is apparently amicable.
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