Kardashian West was not just West’s wife, but also the mother to his four children and his muse. And while both of them were majorly famous before they even began dating, there’s no denying their relationship changed their respective careers, resulting in Vogue covers and higher profiles than ever before with elite media. Their relationship has been symbiotic and beneficial for business and branding, but it’s also been through the wringer quite publicly, from Kardashian West’s harrowing Paris robbery to West’s mental health crises and myriad controversies. Take a look at how the couple known as Kimye came to be, what their love story was like and how they got to this point of divorce.
Circa 2003: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian meet for the first time
Kardashian West revealed in the Keeping Up With the Kardashians 10th anniversary special that she first met West around 2003 when he was working on a song with Brandy, with whom Kardashian was friendly (after very famously dating her brother, Ray J.) She recalled that West kept asking their mutual friends about her…but didn’t know how to pronounce her last name properly.
2008: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West paid tribute to Star Wars together
In 2015, Kardashian West revealed that she and West first really connected during a taping of a pilot from West called Alligator Boots, in which Kardashian rocked a “Slave Leia” costume from Star Wars. The show didn’t work out, but they did!
Late 2011: Kanye West consoles Kim Kardashian after her split from Kris Humphries
Kardashian married Kris Humphries in August 2011 and infamously filed for divorce just 72 days later. During the Keeping Up With the Kardashians 10th anniversary special, Kardashian West revealed that shortly after her split from the NBA star is when she realized she should have headed West long ago. “After my breakup, I was feeling really low and down and [West] 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,” she recalled. “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.’”
March 2012: Kim Kardashian sits front row at Kanye West’s Paris fashion show
Kardashian made a serious statement wearing a number of West’s pieces in the front row of his March 2012 Paris fashion show.
April 2012: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West go public
Kardashian and West are confirmed to be casually dating in April 2012. Kute! West rapped about Kardashian in his song “Theraflu” (since renamed to “Cold”), which dropped the same month, explaining that he was in love with her while she was with Humphries—who played for the New Jersey Nets at the time, a team then-partially owned by West’s BFF, Jay-Z: “And I’ll admit, I fell in love with Kim / ‘Round the same time she had fell in love with him / Well, that’s cool, baby girl, do ya thing / Lucky I ain’t have Jay drop him from the team.”
December 2012: Kanye West announces Kim Kardashian is expecting their first child
During a concert in Atlantic City on New Year’s Eve 2012, West announced that Kardashian was pregnant—in a pretty adorable way, telling the crowd, “Can we make some noise for my baby mom right quick?” Kardashian later confirmed that she was, indeed, expecting. In July 2020, West claimed during a presidential campaign rally in South Carolina that they considered terminating the pregnancy.
May 2013: Kanye West escorts Kim Kardashian to her first-ever Met Gala
Kardashian had never before attended the elite Met Gala in New York City. She made her debut at fashion’s biggest night in May 2013, rocking a rose-print gown with matching gloves that earned some unfortunate comparisons to a sofa.
June 2013: North West is born
West and Kardashian welcomed their first child, daughter North, June 15, 2013. Kardashian West has since revealed that Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintourhelped cement their eldest daughter’s geographically inspired name. “Anna had some influence in naming North, because once she heard that rumor she asked me, and said that name was ‘genius,’” Kardashian West said in a Vogue “73 Questions"video in 2019. “So that was helpful to me.”
October 2013: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West get engaged
In his typical low-key style, West proposed to Kardashian at the then-vacant AT&T Park baseball stadium (which houses the San Francisco Giants during the season). He hired a 50-person orchestra to play Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” and escorted a blindfolded Kardashian inside to find “Pleeease marry meee!!!” written on a JumboTron. Kardashian’s family and friends hid in the dugouts to surprise her once West put his 15-carat diamond on her finger. West later told Power 106 that he ordered three different rings for Kardashian and was making changes up to the night before his proposal. He even had a say in the lighting at the ballpark. “They didn’t have the lights exactly like I wanted it to be,” he said. “I’m arguing with the guy who put it together for me. He’s talking about, ‘Man it need to be more romantic!’ I said, ‘It’s a baseball field. What you talking about? If I wanted to be romantic, I would have gone to a small restaurant or something.’” Here, you can see Kardashian showing off her rock days later at her birthday celebration.
May 2014: Kimye tie the knot
Kardashian West and West had a blowout wedding in Florence, Italy, with their families and celebrity friends. West spent days editing his wedding photos during the couple’s honeymoon.
May 2015: Kim Kardashian West reveals she’s pregnant with Baby No. 2
In late May (not long after Kardashian West and West’s first wedding anniversary), the KUWTK star reveals she’s expecting their second child.
December 2015: Saint West is born
West and Kardashian West welcome son Saint Dec. 5, 2015.
October 2016: Kim Kardashian West is bound, gagged and robbed at gunpoint in Paris
Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint in Paris of over $9 million worth of jewels, including her engagement ring from West. West was performing a concert in Queens, New York, and cut his show short upon learning of the incident. Thankfully, Kardashian West was not physically harmed, and the robbers were later apprehended and charged.
November 2016: Kanye West suffers a mental health crisis
About a month after Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, West suffered a psychiatric emergency. The “Jesus Walks” rapper canceled the second half of his Saint Pablo world tour due to the “mental exhaustion” he was experiencing. The incident coincided with what would have been Kardashian’s first public appearance since her robbery: The makeup maven was set to attend a charity ball in New York City but canceled to be with West. The couple lied low for a significant amount of time afterward in efforts to get well.
September 2017: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West announce they’re expecting their third child
The couple confirm that they’re expecting their third child by a surrogate after Kardashian West suffered complications with her previous pregnancies, including placenta accreta. She admitted that the surrogacy process was difficult for her. “Anyone that says or thinks [surrogacy] is just the easy way out is just completely wrong,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I think it is so much harder to go through it this way, because you are not really in control.” She later revealed that she also used a surrogacy therapist during the process.
January 2018: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West welcome daughter Chicago
Chicago West is born Jan. 15, 2018.
June 2018: Kanye West reveals he suffers from bipolar disorder
In lyrics to his album YE, West revealed he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, calling it a “superpower.” Months later, he explained that he had his first major “blackout” when he was just five years old, but that his mother, Donda, declined to medicate him at such a young age. In December 2018, he announced he had been off his medication for six months and was working on new music.
January 2019: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West reveal they’re expecting Baby No. 4 via surrogate
The couple confirmed the happy news; they used a different surrogate than they used for Chicago.
May 2019: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West welcome their fourth child
Son Psalm West was born on May 10, 2019. Kardashian West later said that four kids was enough for their family.
July 2020: Kanye West announces his presidential run and goes on a Twitter rant about his marriage and career; Kim Kardashian West speaks out on his mental health
On July 4, 2020, West announced he was running for President of the United States. His wife retweeted his announcement with an American flag emoji. West held his first campaign event in South Carolina July 19, 2020, where he alleged that he and Kardashian West considered an abortion during her pregnancy with their eldest daughter North in 2013. Afterward, West posted a series of concerning tweets, including some that alleged Kardashian West tried to get him medical attention and that he was considering divorcing the KKW Beauty founder. Kardashian West spoke out July 22, 2020, urging her followers and the media to have compassion for her husband. She said that West is a “brilliant but complicated person” who struggled with “the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bi-polar disorder.” She added, “Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times do not align with his intentions.”
January 2021: Rumors abound that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West will divorce.
In January 2021, sources told both PEOPLEthat Kardashian and West are likely headed for a divorce, though neither the makeup mogul nor the music-turned-fashion scion have spoken publicly about the state of their relationship. A source told the outletthat West “knows that [Kardashian is] done. She has had enough, and she told him that she wants some space to figure out her future.” Though West has struggled publicly with his mental health, the insider claimed he’s taking the heartbreak relatively well, noting, “He’s okay. He’s sad, but okay. He knows the inevitable will happen, and he knows that it’s coming soon.” A second source said that Kardashian has yet to file, explaining, “It will happen eventually, but she’s waffling.” Insiders also claimed that the couple has been in marriage counseling for “a while” and had been living apart for months (West in Wyoming and Kardashian in Calabasas, Calif.). The pair have spent quite a bit of time focusing on their own respective projects more than on their marriage, but that they agree on co-parenting and doing whatever is best for their four children.
February 2021: Reports swirl that Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West
On Feb. 19, news broke out that sources had shared with outlets like TMZ and PEOPLEthat Kardashian had filed for divorce from West, and that Kardashian reportedly requested joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s four children (North, 7, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3 and Psalm, 1). The estranged pair are said to be amicable and determined to co-parent, and they are adhering to their prenuptial agreement. No separation date has yet been listed, but previous reports indicated that West, 43, and Kardashian had issues for months and were pretty much already living separately. PEOPLEreports that they’re approaching a settlement with minimal drama. Raising two black sons with Kanye West inspired Kim Kardashian West to pursue racial justice.
