We’re creeping up on a year since Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West, but the superstar couple continue to dominate the news cycle. The last few months have been particularly spicy–West sang about her during his recent showt, Kim filed papers to change her marital status, and both have begun to see other (famous) people.
Kanye has been talking about their relationship seemingly everywhere–at concerts, on podcasts, even at charity events. Kim has been less public, but through sources has let some of her thoughts be known on West’s actions and statements.
2022 has brought a new level of intrigue, and with Pete Davidson and Julia Fox now in the mix, it’s worth recapping this hectic latest stretch in the dissolution of America’s most famous couple.
November 4, 2021: The first part of Kanye’s freewheeling interview on the Drink Champs podcast is released, which saw him touch on a wide range of topics, including Kim. “She’s still my wife,” he said on the show, and blasted long-time foe Saturday Night Live for “making my wife say ‘I divorced him’ on TV because they just wanted to get that bar off.” According to West, he hadn’t seen any official documents. (Kardashian hosted SNL on October 9 and made the aforementioned comment during her opening monologue.) “My kids want their parents to stay together. I want us to be together,” he said pointedly.
November 18, 2021: E! News reports that Kim and Davidson are “officially dating,” solidifying a romantic spark that apparently started when she hosted SNL and caught fire when the two were seen holding hands at an amusement park.
November 26, 2021: A contrite Kanye released a five-minute “Thanksgiving Prayer,” in which he admitted to struggling with alcohol and anger management issues. He said he “embarrassed” Kim during a press conference on his ill-fated presidential campaign, while stressing he wanted them to reunite. “All I think about every day is how I get my family back together and how I heal the pain that I’ve caused,” he said.
December 9, 2021: While performing at the Free Larry Hoover benefit concert with Drake, Kanye ad-libbed some new lyrics to “Runaway” that included a direct mention of Kim, who was in attendance.“I need you to run right back to me, baby, more specifically, Kimberly,” he sang. It may not have gotten his marriage back together, but at least it made Drake misty-eyed.
December 10, 2021: A day later, Kardashian filed documents to make herself once again legally single, per TMZ. In that same story, it was also reported that she was “buying Kanye out” of their California mansion for a staggering $23 million.
December 13, 2021: E! got ahold of some of the aforementioned court documents, which provided insight into Kim’s thinking on the state of her relationship with West. “Irreconcilable differences have led to the irremediable breakdown of the marriage, and there is no possibility of saving the marriage through counseling or other means,” it said. “The continued maintenance of technical marital status between [Kim] and [Kanye] serves no useful purpose, and there is no reason to maintain the legal relationship.” That same day, Page Six reports that Kim “thinks it’s strange that Kanye keeps saying he wants her back, but all the while he’s got the [22-year-old] model at his Malibu house,” in reference to Vinetria, who he dated from November to right before the holidays.
December 14, 2021: Kanye’s thoughts on Kim’s legal filing are revealed by a “source close to the rapper” to People. “He’s not giving up without a fight. Kim is the mother of his children and he’s not going to just let that go,” the source said. “No matter if they’re husband and wife, they’ll always support each other. Her recent filing or any filing for that matter doesn’t mean he’s going to stop fighting to win her back.”
December 27, 2021: Kanye buys a house across from Kim’s, per The Daily Mail. Unsurprisingly, it’s later revealed he intends to tear the structure down and wanted it purely for the location and proximity to his children. He reportedly went $400,000 over the list price to ensure he wouldn’t be outbid. The memes about West’s purchase are, predictably, brutal.
January 2, 2022: The first major celebrity gossip bombshell of the new year came in the form of West being spotted out at dinner with actor and model Julia Fox in Miami, who’d been making some relationship-related headlines herself as she aired out the father of her child on Instagram, alleging various transgressions and even physical abuse.
January 5, 2022: An E! source shared that Kim and Pete Davidson “are getting very serious” and that she is “smitten” with the SNL comedian,
January 6, 2022: Interview ran a story titled “Date Night” which featured a short written intro by Fox and behind the scenes photos of the pair’s second date, which included West filling a hotel suite with designer clothing for her to try on. The pictures cover the gamut from Kanye styling Fox in an oversized blazer to the two going full PDA on the floor.
Fox also shed some light on their second date–seeing Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play in New York and then dinner (and…an organized photoshoot) at Greenwich Village staple Carbone. “Everything with us has been so organic,” she wrote. “I don’t know where things are headed but if this is any indication of the future I’m loving the ride.” (A fun, we-live-in-a-simulation twist here is that Julia Fox and Pete Davidson did a freaky, Ken Doll-inspired photoshoot together for Paper back in 2019.)
January 6, 2022 (evening): Less than an hour after Date Night is published, Us Weekly runs an exclusive claiming Kim and Pete are getting serious, and that the SNL star has “bonded” with her entire family, including her children.
January 6, 2022 (evening): Entertainment Tonight got the inside scoop on Kim and Pete’s Bahamas vacation, including West’s thoughts. Frankly, for an unnamed insider source, it’s a surprisingly measured comment.
“Pete and Kim had a great time on their trip to the Bahamas and are continuing to have a lot of fun together,” their source said. “Kanye still isn’t too thrilled by Pete and Kim’s relationship, but is doing his best to stay distracted, busy and fulfilled with his own life.”