What's Really Going On With Kim, Pete, Kanye, And Julia?
There's so much to unpack.
In Elite Daily’s It’s Complicated series, we dissect the biggest celebrity drama to find out what happened in front of the camera, behind the scenes, and everywhere in between. In this piece, we explore Kim Kardashian’s ongoing divorce from Kanye West, and their new relationships with Pete Davidson and Julia Fox.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West tied the knot in May 2014, and their romance quickly became one of the most-high profile relationships of the decade. The couple share four children (North, Chicago, Saint, and Psalm), plus countless memories splashed in the media for the world’s consumption. When they split, many fans were devastated. Kim reportedly filed for divorce on Feb. 19, 2021, signaling the end of an era. With every ending comes a new beginning, and both stars have since welcomed significant others into their lives — giving fans plenty to unpack.
Despite making several pleas for Kim to get back with him before the new year, Kanye is now linked to Uncut Gems actor Julia Fox. He and Fox allowed a photographer to capture their first few dates, which has caused fans to question why they’ve been so public with their new romance. Kim, however, has been attached at the hip of Saturday Night Live funny guy Pete Davidson since October 2021. Already, they’ve spent a holiday season together and even vacationed internationally. A funny coincidence? Pete and Julia have a past connection of their own, having appeared in a 2019 Paper magazine shoot.
So, are these budding relationships PR stunts or the real deal? Only time will tell, but here’s what to know so far.
Kim Kardashian & Pete Davidson’s Relationship Timeline
Oct. 30: Kim & Pete’s First Date At Knott's Berry Farm
Before Kim and Pete were spotted on their first date, they appeared as Jasmine and Aladdin on Saturday Night Live together and shared a sweet on-screen smooch. Fans first presumed the fictional romance to be just that, but the duo sent the internet into a tizzy on Oct. 30, 2021, when photos of them enjoying a night out at a California theme park emerged. The pair were living their best life at Knott’s Berry Farm, riding roller coasters and holding hands as they strolled the park. People reported Pete and Kim were “just friends” at the amusement park and were accompanied by mutual friends and couples Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox, plus Kardashian’s sister Kourtney and her now-fiancé Travis Barker.
Nov. 3: Dinner In Pete’s Hometown
Kim and Pete grabbed fans’ attention again when the comedian invited her to his hometown of Staten Island in early November. The SNL star has proudly repped his city throughout his career, but the sight of Kim hitting the streets of Staten Island was almost too much for fans to handle. They couldn’t believe she made the trip from her glamorous Calabasas abode to the one New York City borough with a bad rap. Naturally, their date inspired a set of hilarious memes.
Nevertheless, it looked like the trip went off without a hitch, and the pair were spotted chowing down at Staten Island’s Angelina’s restaurant. In addition to dinner, they attended a movie at a local theater together. It was a far cry from Kim’s usual Nobu nights, but then again, perhaps oceanside dining in Malibu gets old.
Nov. 21: A Romantic Dinner In Santa Monica
While fans initially chalked Kim and Pete’s relationship up to be a casual fling, the the duo proved it to be anything but. By Nov. 21, nearly a month in, they made no effort to hide their affection for one another. A source told Us Weekly that while dining at Santa Monica hotspot Giorgio Baldi that night, they reportedly were “cuddled up” and looked “cozy.”
Dec. 31: A Belated Christmas With Kris Jenner
By the time the 2021 holidays rolled around, Kim and Pete seemed to be headed towards a full-fledged relationship. Yep, Pete was photographed with Kim and Kris Jenner — the first sign things were actually getting serious. Hilariously enough, Flavor Flav was also in attendance at the family holiday get-together and told Entertainment Tonight his presence was Kim’s birthday surprise for Pete. The moment made for one hell of an Instagram debut.
Later, Flavor Flav spoke out about his time hanging with Kim and Pete, calling them “family.” “When it comes down to Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian, first of all, to me, that is family, you know what I’m saying,” the rapper told Entertainment Tonight on Dec. 15. “The whole night, I was so honored to be in their presence. One thing that I could say is Pete Davidson loves himself some Flavor Flav.”
Jan. 3: A Romantic Excursion To The Bahamas
Kim and Pete jet-set on what appeared to be their first international trip together on Jan. 3. The couple made their way to the Bahamas just after the holidays and were photographed enjoying a leisurely boating excursion. Paparazzi snapped pics of their vacation on Jan. 5, and Kim shared plenty of her own content from the tropics on Instagram. Pete stayed off Kim’s Instagram, but fans speculated several of her bikini pics were taken by him. When Kim posted a steamy swimsuit pic on Jan. 6, Scott Disick chimed in with a NSFW comment. “Damn! Where’s the tripod!” he wrote. It sounds like Disick was privy to the long-running joke about Pete’s, ahem, BDE.
Soon after, Kanye took a public diss at Pete in a new song with The Game titled “Eazy.” Which, well, brings us to him and Julia.
Kanye West & Julia Fox’s Relationship Timeline
Dec. 31: Kanye & Julia Meet In Miami
While Kanye has been linked to model Irina Shayk since his split with Kim, his romance with Julia took off like wildfire. They met on the most romantic of holidays: New Year’s Eve. Julia shared all the details about the beginnings of their romance in an essay for Interview, explaining they hit it off immediately after meeting in Miami. One day later, they decided to meet up again. It was the romance no one saw coming, but, new year, new beginnings, right?
Jan. 1: Their First Date At Carbone
The pair’s official first date took place on New Year’s Day. Kanye and Julia dined at Miami’s Carbone restaurant and looked happy to be enjoying each other’s company in photos snapped by TMZ.
Jan. 4: Kanye & Julia’s NYC Broadway Date Night
The duo followed up their Miami date night with an impromptu trip to New York City. As it turns out, their flame transcended cities. They hit up the Broadway show Slave Play before dining at Carbone’s Manhattan location.
As she explained in her Interview article, it was a special night for a multitude of reasons.
“After the play we chose to do dinner at Carbone, which is one of my favorite restaurants. Obviously,” she explained. “At the restaurant, Ye directed an entire photo shoot for me while people dined! The whole restaurant loved it and cheered us on while it was happening.”
But if you thought dinner and a show was all Ye had up his sleeve for their second date, you thought wrong. The rapper, who was notorious for clearing out Kim’s closet and replacing it with items he favored, did just the same with Julia. Yep, he gifted Julia a number of new wardrobe items, which she considered a dream. In her chat with Interview, she spilled the tea.
“After dinner Ye had a surprise for me,” she said. “I mean, I’m still in shock. Ye had an entire hotel suite full of clothes. It was every girl’s dream come true. It felt like a real Cinderella moment. I don’t know how he did it, or how he got all of it there in time. But I was so surprised. Like, who does things like this on a second date?”
Jan. 10: Their Joint LA Dinner With Antonio Brown
Kanye and Julia eventually took their romance to the West Coast, and on Jan. 10, they were captured by paparazzi having dinner at Craig's restaurant in West Hollywood. The duo were joined by former NFL player Antonio Brown, so it appeared that their inner circles were starting to mesh. Despite getting closer, Kanye reportedly isn’t ready to commit. According to a People source close to Kanye and Kim, Kanye is “still telling people that he wants to have Kim back and he is willing to make appropriate changes to do so."
Jan. 12: Dinner & An Alleged Altercation
Kanye and Julia stopped by celebrity hot spot Delilah on Jan. 12, however, the rest of the evening may have taken a sharp turn after Kanye headed to Soho Warehouse. According to multiple reports, Kanye allegedly punched a fan who asked for an autograph, reportedly knocking him to the ground. Kanye is now reportedly under investigation by the LAPD after he was named a suspect in an alleged battery report following the alleged altercation. (Elite Daily reached out to Kanye’s reps for comment on the allegations, but did not hear back in time for publication.)
In a Jan. 17 interview with Hollywood Unlocked's Jason Lee, Kanye opened up about the incident and recounted the order of events. As Lee later told Entertainment Tonight, West did not admit to hitting anyone during the interview.
“It was 3 a.m. in front of the Warehouse. I’m saying, ‘You don’t know what I’m dealing with right now.’ I just finished these two songs, I came from the studio,” Kanye told Lee, alleging that the fan had an attitude. “And this dude just, he just had this real attitude, like, ‘Whatchu gonna do? And see that?’ Imma just tell you, that blue Covid mask ain’t stop that knockout, you know what I’m saying.”
“This is the same as the paparazzi, this is not a fan,” Kanye explained. “This is someone who is using your image, who probably never listened to your songs, are ones that are like, ‘This is my song, for real?... So I end up getting into an altercation with the guy that wanted to make money off of my autographs.”
He added, “I say, ‘Give me a breather. Get away from me.”
Despite these events, Julia has been continuously open about their relationship. During a Jan. 12 episode of her Forbidden Fruits podcast, she revealed they haven’t defined their ~situation~ just yet. "There's no labels, none of that," Julia said. "It's just people that make each other feel better. It's really like such a Gemini/Aquarius connection. It's very inspirational. Our minds, we both work very fast; we keep up with each other, which is cool."
Like Kanye, US Weekly reported Julia recently finalized a divorce from ex-husband Peter Artemiev. And while it doesn’t seem like Julia and Kanye are rushing to blend their families, they’re evidently leaning on each other for support.
Jan. 15: A Birthday Fiasco
Things turned messy between Kanye and Kim at their daughter Chicago’s fourth birthday bash. Kim and Kylie Jenner — whose own daughter, Stormi, turns four on Feb. 1 — co-hosted the event for their girls at an undisclosed location on Jan. 15. Kanye claimed he didn’t receive an invitation to the party. In a Jan. 14 interview with Hollywood Unlocked’s Jason Lee (shared by ET), he slammed Kim’s security team for not letting him into the party at first. He also claimed he was forced to ask Travis Scott for the address to the bash.
“Earlier this week, Monday, when I went to go pick my kids up from school, the security stopped me at the gate. So, at that point, security was in between me and my children,” Kanye told Hollywood Unlocked. “I didn’t want to argue about it. So, I just chilled, took my kids to school, and then took my kids back, I am driving. I bring them back and North was like, ‘I want you to come upstairs and see something.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, Daddy can’t come see something. Daddy can’t come inside.’ But that hadn’t been defined.”
Kanye also recounted his experience on Instagram Live, asking for support from fans.
According to an Us Weekly source, Kim was “shocked to learn that he released a video about not being invited to her party.” The source added “that’s not true and as soon as he asked to come he was given the location.” Sources told Page Six Kim has asked for “better communication from him and for visits to be scheduled in advance to give the kids a more predictable [schedule].” Since the party, Kim has continued sharing snaps from her vacation in the Bahamas as she and Kanye figure out the best way to co-parent.
Jan. 23: Paris Fashion Week
Kanye and Julia made their red carpet debut on Jan. 23 when they arrived at the Kenzo Men’s Fall/Winter 2022/2023 fashion show in Paris. They were twinning in matching denim looks and served up some serious Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake vibes, circa 2001. Fox wore Schiaparelli head-to-toe, while Kanye rocked an oversized jacket and light-washed jeans. All eyes were on them as they posed for photos outside the show.
Their denim matching moment wasn’t the only time they appeared before cameras during Paris Fashion Week. (Meanwhile, Kim continued her Instagram bikini photos streak on Jan. 23).
With new lovers and the world’s attention, this is just the beginning of this story.
