Longtime friends became a high-profile romantic partnership (and one of the most famous couples of all time) when Kanye West and Kim Kardashian became romantically involved in the spring of 2012. As the two were – and still are – some of the biggest superstars on the planet, their union was a cosmic collision for the ages, burning big and bright before ending in a fiery, supernova explosion.
In the eight years between their joyous wedding in 2014 and devastating divorce, finalized in 2022, the world watched with eager eyes as Kimye experienced the joys of marriage and parenthood. Fans everywhere saw Kanye join the rest of Hollywood’s biggest “K” names when he became a full-fledged member of the Kardashian family, celebrated alongside the couple as they welcomed four kids together – North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm – and shared in their devastation when Kim filed for divorce in February 2020.
But while Kim and Kanye’s marriage ended, their relationship – turbulent as it may be – definitely did not. The two will always be linked both in private — as they work to co-parent — as well as in public, as they duke things out on social media. In the years following the breakup, Ye repeatedly bashed his ex-wife for her parenting choices and subsequent romances in Instagram posts and in interviews.
For better or worse, though, Kimye will forever be a staple of 2010s pop culture and a textbook example of what it means to be a certified celebrity couple. Relive all the high and low points of Kanye and Kim’s time together with the relationship timeline below:
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December 2010
Image Credit: Chris Weeks/WireImage Kim Kardashian and Kanye West shared studio time in Culver City, Calif., for what would was presumably Kim’s debut musical project. “He’s a musical genius, so I would be honored to work with Kanye,” Kardashian said at the time. "It's all in fun. We're just trying to have a good time."
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April 2012
Image Credit: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Kanye name-checked Kardashian — who had split from husband Kris Humphries — on the song “Theraflu” (later re-named “Cold”), rapping, “I’ll admit, I had fell in love with Kim.” Meanwhile, Kim played coy about the pair’s relationship on the Today show. “Kanye and I have been friends for years,” she said, adding, “You never know what the future holds or where my life will take me. So … I like the song!”
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April 2012
After her Today appearance, Kanye and Kim stepped out as a couple: The pair dined at a New York City restaurant and was spotted holding hands.
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September 2012
Image Credit: Michel Dufour/WireImage Kim and Kanye appeared as the hot couple at Paris Fashion Week, after Kim attended West’s March 2012 show as a friend.
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December 2012
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage Kanye announced that he and Kim were expecting their first child together after telling his audience at an Atlantic City concert, “Stop the music and make noise for my baby mama.”
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May 2013
Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/FilmMagic Kim sported a fabulous baby bump (and Givenchy) alongside Kanye as the pair arrived at the 2013 Met Costume Institute Gala.
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June 2013
Image Credit: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/French Select/Getty Images The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named North West, into the world on June 15, 2013.
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Kanye West & Kim Kardashian: “Bound 2” (2013)
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Kim appeared in the music video for Kanye’s song “Bound 2,” straddling him topless as he rode a motorcycle.
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October 2013
Image Credit: Michael Buckner/WireImage Kanye asked for Kim’s hand in marriage during a lavish proposal at AT&T Park in San Francisco. She says yes!
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March 2014
Image Credit: Courtesy of Vogue Ahead of their impending nuptials, Kanye and Kim appeared on the cover of Vogue together, with Kim dressed in a wedding gown.
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May 2014
Image Credit: Marc Piasecki/GC Images On May 24, 2014, Kanye and Kim tied the knot in a star-studded wedding that spanned from Paris to Florence. One of Kim’s breathtaking wedding shots becomes the most-liked Instagram photo of 2014, with 2.4 million likes to date.
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March 2015
Image Credit: Rabbani and Solimene Photography/GI A studio version of “Awesome,” a love song Kanye wrote for Kim, leaked online, after Kanye debuted the track live in 2013.
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May 2015
Image Credit: Gary Gershoff/WireImage Kim Kardashian announced that she is expecting her second child during a tease of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. North is going to be a sister!
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May 2015
Image Credit: Mike Coppola/GI Kanye shouted out Kim on Twitter on their wedding anniversary, while Kim responds by sharing never-before-seen wedding photos on Instagram.
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February 2016
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3 A blonde Kim Kardashian supported her hubby at the simultaneous Yeezy Season 3 fashion show and The Life of Pablo listening party at New York’s Madison Square Garden in February. The first family of reality TV including momager Kris Jenner, sisters Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie also made an appearance.
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February 2016
Image Credit: Stefanie Keenan/GI Kim Kardashian celebrated another milestone in her life the way she does best — sharing it on social media. This past February, the Internet-breaking queen shared an adorable photo of her second child with Kanye, a son named Saint, who is also the baby brother to the couple’s two-year-old daughter, North.
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May 2016
Image Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Style stans Kim Kardashian and Kanye West had more fun playing dress up for this year’s Met Gala theme “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.” The couple slipped on shimmery Balmain pieces while ‘Ye wore silvery lenses to match. “I love my husbands eyes at the Met #AfterPartyVibes,” Kim K wrote on Instagram.
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May 2016
Image Credit: David M. Benett/GI In May, KimYe celebrated their two-year anniversary with a mushy pic on Kim’s Instagram and even flying out to Italy, the location of their lavish nuptials in 2014. “Happy 2 year anniversary to the love of my life! You make me so happy! I love you so much!!!,” Mrs. Kardashian West wrote.
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May 2016
Image Credit: Zibi/WENN.com/Newscom/MEGA The “Only One” rapper celebrated an extra special Father’s Day with his two bundles of joy on the beach. A beaming momma Kim shared an intimate family pic of Daddy ‘Ye on the beach with his children with the caption: “Happy Fathers Day babe! Thank you for always putting our family first and being the best dad to our babies! I couldn’t ask for a better husband and more perfect family. We love you so much!”
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July 2016
Image Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images The Adidas designer opted for a more high-end look by teaming with esteemed fashion house Balmain for his minimal yet runway-ready visual for “Wolves.” The music video-meets-style ad, directed by Steve Klein, also stars his wife, Kim Kardashian and supermodels Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, Alessandra Ambrosio among others.
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August 2016
Image Credit: Raymond Hall/GC Images KimYe nearly lock lips for the September 2016 cover story for Harper’s Bazaar. Inside, the couple discuss nude selfies and their biggest insecurities. “I love [Kim’s] nude selfies,” said Kanye. “Like, I love the ones from the side, the back ones, and the front. I just love seeing her naked; I love nudity. And I love beautiful shapes. I feel like it’s almost a Renaissance thing, a painting, a modern version of a painting. I think it’s important for Kim to have her figure. To not show it would be like Adele not singing.”
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August 2016
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage KimYe were easily best dressed at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, with Kardashian rocking her staple “wet” look, and ‘Ye opting for an all-white ensemble. Later on in the evening, Kanye premiered his video for “Fade.”
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September 2016
Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Kanye West and Kim Kardashian stepped out in another black-and-white look for the 2016 Yeezy Season 4 fashion show in New York City.
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June 2018
Image Credit: Prince Williams/Getty Images The summer of 2018 was jam-packed with G.O.O.D. Music releases, including Teyana Taylor’s sophomore album, a follow-up to her 2015 album VII. KimYe attended Taylor’s album release party in Universal City, California.
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June 2018
Image Credit: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images Kim Kardashian returned to Paris in 2018 for the first time since being robbed at gunpoint of more than $10 million in jewelry in October 2016. She attended the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer 2019 show with Kanye West by her side.
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December 2018
Image Credit: Rich Fury/Forum Photos via Getty Images Kim and Kanye showed support for Ye’s musical collaborator and Kylie Jenner’s then-boyfriend Travis Scott by attending his Astroworld Tour stop at The Forum in Inglewood in December 2018. Both looked comfy and happy, smiling and lounging in sweatsuits backstage.
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May 2019
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/MG19/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue The couple attended the Met Gala together again in 2019, with the theme “Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion.” Kardashian wore a now-iconic custom Thierry Mugler corset dress, covered in crystals that resembled water droplets.
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September 2019
The whole West clan headed out to their new ranch in Wyoming for a family getaway. “Wyoming Nights,” Kardashian captioned a stunning photo of the family enjoying dinner with a sunset in the background.
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November 2019
Image Credit: Lars Niki/Getty Images for WSJ Magazine Innovators Awards Kim and Kanye attended the WSJ. Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards sponsored by Harry Winston and Rémy Martin at MOMA to present their long-time friend, designer Riccardo Tisci, with the Fashion Innovator award.
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November 2019
Image Credit: Michael Wyke/AP/Shutterstock Kanye West brought his Sunday Service performance to televangelist Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in November 2019 after the pastor personally invited West following the superstar’s latest renewed commitment to Christianity. Kim and the couple’s daughter North accompanied the rapper to the event.
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February 2020
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Nordstrom Kanye West went to Nordstrom NYC in February 2020 to celebrated Kim’s solutionwear line, SKIMS.
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February 2020
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/VF20/WireImage The couple dressed up for a fun evening at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California.
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February 2020
Image Credit: Gotham/GC Images Kim, Kanye, North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm all attended Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott’s daughter Stormi’s second birthday in February 2020. The family posed for a stylish picture in front of the StormiWorld balloon mouth.
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May 2020
Image Credit: Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair The KKW Beauty mogul marked the couple’s sixth wedding anniversary with a sweet post on Instagram. “6 years down; forever to go…Until the end,” she captioned a pair of photos of herself leaning down to kiss the rapper on the cheek.
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June 2020
Image Credit: Arnold Jerocki/GC Images Kardashian honored West on Father’s Day, calling her husband “the best dad” in a gushing social media tribute. “Thank you for making life so much fun! You give our kids the most awesome life! I love you so much!!!” she declared alongside two candid snaps of the couple with their four children at their sprawling Wyoming ranch.
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July 2020
Image Credit: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images Following the first rally of his 2020 presidential campaign, during which West delivered a rambling monologue, and broke down in tears revealing he and Kardashian had considered aborting their oldest daughter North, the rapper took to Twitter to publicly apologize to his wife. “To Kim I want to say I know I hurt you. Please forgive me. Thank you for always being there for me,” he wrote on July 25. Days earlier, West had also gone on a separate since-deleted tweetstorm, claiming he’d “been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek [Mill] at the Waldorf for prison reform” and accusing the reality star of attempting to get him committed on “medical grounds.”
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February 2021
Image Credit: Marc Piasecki/WireImage After months of rumors, Kardashian files for divorce from West on Feb. 19 in Los Angeles Superior Court. Kardashian has filed for joint custody of their four children together: 7-year-old daughter North, 5-year-old son Saint, 3-year-old daughter Chicago, and 1-year-old son Psalm. A source tells Billboard that the split is amicable.
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August 2021
Image Credit: Jason Peterson/ @jasonmpeterson Six months after filing for divorce, Kim Kardashian makes a surprise appearance at Kanye West’s third Donda listening event at Soldier Field in his Chicago hometown on Aug. 26 wearing her dress from their 2014 wedding with a full veil. Fans aren’t sure what to make of the display, but Kardashian clearly still supports her estranged husband, attending all three listening events with their children ahead of the Aug. 29 release of the rapper’s 10th studio album.
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January 2022
Image Credit: Victor Boyko/GI For Kenzo Ye teamed up with Gunna for the fiery track “Eazy,” which featured a line in which West unleashed his feelings about Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson, who reportedly began dating Kim Kardashian in October 2021.
“God saved me from that crash/ Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass,” Ye spits, referencing his near-fatal car accident in 2002.
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January 2022
Image Credit: Gotham/GC Images During an interview with Hollywood Unlocked, Ye claimed that he flew across the country last October on a red eye to fetch a laptop from Kardashian’s ex, singer Ray J, who famously appeared in a leaked sex tape with Kim in 2007. The laptop allegedly had another, previously unseen sex tape on it.
A rep for Kardashian denied to E! News in a statement that the second tape had any lascivious footage. “After review, there was nothing sexual unseen, only footage on the plane on the way to Mexico and footage at a club and restaurant on the same trip,” the rep reportedly told E! “Kim remains firm in her belief that there is no new second tape that exists. After 20 years, she truly wishes to move on from this chapter with focus instead on the positive things she continues to do as a mother, entrepreneur and advocate for justice reform.”
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February 2022
Image Credit: David Livingston/GI West expressed his disapproval of eight-year-old daughter North’s TikTok account, and subtly called out Kardashian in the process. “SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST DIVORCE I NEED TO KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO ABOUT MY DAUGHTER BEING PUT ON TIK TOK AGAINST MY WILL ?” he captioned a screenshot North in a TikTok video posted days earlier.
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February 2022
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/E! Entertainment/NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via GI Kardashian responded to Kanye’s post in a lengthy all-text Instagram Stories. “Kanye’s constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create,” she began her message, noting she’s the main provider and caregiver for their kids. “I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision – because it brings her happiness. Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanye’s obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all.”
Ye then clapped back once more, sharing a screenshot of Kardashian’s statement, and adding in the caption, “America saw you try to kid nap my daughter on her birthday by not providing the address,” in reference to another IG Story in which the rapper claimed that he was not invited to daughter Chicago’s birthday party. “You put security on me inside of the house to play with my son then accused me of stealing I had to take a drug test after Chicago’s party cause you accused me of being on drugs …”
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March 2, 2022
Image Credit: Pietro S. D'Aprano/GI for Prada A judge granted the reality personality’s request to be declared legally single, immediately ending Kardashian and West’s marriage. The more complicated aspects of their split — such as custody of their four children and questions about their assets — will be decided later.
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March 2, 2022
Image Credit: Johnny Nunez/GI for Netflix Shortly after a judge declared his estranged wife Kim Kardashian legally single, the rapper dropped a video for his song “Eazy.” In the claymation visual, Ye kidnaps the reality star’s beau Pete Davidson and buries him alive.
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September 2022
Image Credit: Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Ye openly apologized to Kim during an appearance on Good Morning America following his many public comments on their children and her romance with Pete Davidson.
“This is the mother of my children, and I apologize for any stress that I have caused, even in my frustration, because God calls me to be stronger,” he said. “I need this person to be less stressed and of the best, sound mind and as calm as possible to be able to raise those children at the end of the day.”
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October 2022
Image Credit: Edward Berthelot/GC Images While in the throes of two major scandals — his inclusion of “White Lives Matter” shirts in his Paris Fashion Week show and his campaign of antisemitic hate speech — Ye appeared on Cuomo and claimed that political differences caused his divorce from Kim.
“My family was torn apart off of my political opinion because of my ex-wife’s attachment to the Clinton administration,” he said. “They were getting my ex-wife to push the vaccination — I didn’t realize how attached [the Kardashians] were to the left agenda when I was there.”
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Kim Kardashian
Image Credit: GI for SKKN BY KIM Kim made sure to distance herself from her ex-husband’s antisemitic remarks by tweeting out a statement in support of Jewish people. “Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” she wrote. “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”
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November 2022
Image Credit: Jason Kempin/GI for LACMA Kimye officially came to a legal end when the pair finally reached a divorce settlement. Both parents secured joint custody of their four kids, with Ye responsible for paying Kim $200,000 per month in child support.