Image via Getty
When an article in Interview magazine dropped featuring photos of Kanye West and actress Julia Fox on Thursday, Jan. 6, a collective gasp was heard all over social media. The pair were first spotted together on a date in Miami on Jan. 1, after reportedly meeting at his New Year’s Eve party. The first date quickly turned into a second when they flew out to New York City to go watch Jeremy O. Harris’ Tony-nominated Slave Play on Broadway, followed by dinner at Italian restaurant Carbone. A magazine feature after date No. 2, is unusual, but so is everything else West is involved in. The Uncut Gems actress opened up to Interview about their budding romance saying they had “an instant connection” when they met at the party.
“His energy is so fun to be around. He had me and my friends laughing, dancing, and smiling all night,” she shared. “We decided to keep the energy going and fly back to New York City to see Slave Play. Ye’s flight landed at six and the play was at seven and he was there ON TIME. I was impressed. After the play we chose to do dinner at Carbone which is one of my favorite restaurants. Obviously.” The magazine also shared various photos of the pair together that quickly started making the rounds all over social media, and Fox revealed that West made her feel like a Disney princess during their second date: “At the restaurant, Ye directed an entire photoshoot for me while people dined! The whole restaurant loved it and cheered us on while it was happening. After dinner Ye had a surprise for me. 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.”
The photos showed Ye fitting the actress into new clothes and there are some steamy ones of her straddling him as he laid on the floor, with clothing racks surrounding them. “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? Or any date!” Fox added. “Everything with us has been so organic. I don’t know where things are headed but if this is any indication of the future I’m loving the ride.” On Friday, Jan. 7, things got a little more official after Ye shared a video of Fox walking in an all-black ensemble on his Instagram Story. Unlike his ex, he rarely shares any content on Instagram unless he’s promoting a new event or his Sunday Services, so this is new territory for him.
This sudden fling is unfolding just a month after West made a public plea to Kim Kardashian by calling out her name at his Free Larry Hoover concert with Drake in Los Angeles, California. He changed the lyrics in “Runaway” to: “I need you to run right back to me, baby, more specifically, Kimberly.” That grand expression of his love seemed to fall on deaf ears, and Kardashian filed legal documents the following day to make her “officially single.” The KKW Beauty founder has been dating Pete Davidson for a few months now after her stint as a host on Saturday Night Live in October. The unlikely pair have been spotted out and about in Staten Island and all over New York City, and the comedian has also been spending more time in California with his new girl when he’s not in his hometown filming for SNL. Davidson and Kardashian were recently spotted on a quick trip to the Bahamas and while she hasn’t posted photos of him on social media, things seem to be progressing and going well between them. There’s no telling whether their relationship is just a rebound or them simply having fun, but it looks like Kardashian is happy where she is and seems unfazed by her ex’s recent outings. Prior to Fox, the music mogul was also reportedly dating a model named Vinetria as he was attempting to reconcile with his ex, but Kardashian was reportedly confused by it all. “She thinks it’s strange that Kanye keeps saying he wants her back, but all the while he’s got the model at his Malibu house,” a source told Page Six at the time.
Based on their aesthetic, vibes, and their overall personas, Fox and Davidson actually make more sense as a couple. But this is not really about them, is it? This is about one of the most famous couples of all time going their separate ways after nearly a decade together and attempting to find their own paths without each other. But on the outside, it feels we’re watching a race of who can find happiness quicker—and that includes seeing them date other people. Kardashian might be all smiles in her recent outings, but her relationship with Davidson doesn’t seem to make sense to the public. The makeup mogul and the comedian couldn’t be more different, and he’s unlike anyone we’ve seen her date in the past. He has a long history of dating some of the most beautiful women in the business so it makes sense on his end. On the other hand, his laid-back personality seems fitting with where she is currently. While people were caught off guard when Kardashian and Davidson were first spotted together, West and Fox dating didn’t feel as shocking. He has also had a penchant for beautiful, curvy women, like his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend Amber Rose. West filling a hotel suite with brand-new designer clothes for his new girl to wear also isn’t new or unique—that’s just simply what he does for any woman that’s the object of his affection.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians fans might remember the time Ye did similar things for his now ex. He changed Kardashian’s wardrobe, helped her clean out her closet and introduced her to the high-end fashion world she didn’t quite have access to back when she was known as just a reality star. Fox may have felt like Cinderella during the clothes fitting, but for Kardashian, those big, over-the-top expressions of love eventually weren’t enough. She openly said she chose divorce in order to find quieter, smaller forms of intimacy that she said would be more meaningful to her than anything else. In a 2021 episode of the final season of KUWTK, she said she was on a search for “complete bliss” as she approached 40, and said she found herself wanting more out of her marriage, especially in terms of companionship, since at the time the rapper was living in Wyoming. “I never thought I was lonely. I always thought that’s totally fine, I could just have my kids, my husband moves from state to state,” she told her mom, Kris Jenner, at the time. “And I just am on this ride with him, and I was OK with that and then after turning 40 this year, I realized like, ‘No, I don’t want a husband that lives in a completely different state to me.’ I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s when we’re getting along the best,’ but then that is sad to me, and that’s not what I want.”
“I want someone that we have the same shows in common,” she continued. “I want someone that wants to work out with me every single day, the little things are what I don’t have. I have all the big things. I have the extravagant, everything you could possibly imagine—and no one will ever do it like that, I know that, you know what I mean? And I’m grateful for those experiences—but I think I’m ready for the smaller experiences that I think will mean a lot.” The famous family also did one last vacation together before they wrapped filming for the E! reality show and during the trip she tearfully revealed to her sisters that she had a big fight with the rapper before the trip. She also said she felt like a failure for ending three marriages but she thought being happy was more important than feeling like a “loser” for calling it quits. “I just honestly can’t do this anymore. Why am I still in this place where I’m stuck for years. He goes and moves to a different state every year,” she said. “He deserves someone that can go support his every move and go follow him all over the place and move to Wyoming. I can’t do that. He should have a wife that supports his every move and travels with him and does everything and I can’t.”
Fox is likely aware of how Kardashian felt in her marriage. In a 2021 recap episode of her “Forbidden Fruits” podcast with co-host Niki Takesh, prior to her outings with Ye, Fox revealed that she is a “die-hard” fan of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. “Can we talk about the Kim and Kanye divorce? Wait, can we talk about Kim and Pete Davidson, though?” she reportedly said, adding that she has watched the reality show since it premiered in 2007. Kardashian also seems fine with how things are unfolding. An insider told TMZ that the Skims founder is reportedly “happy” that her ex is dating and smiling again and that she “only wants to see him end up with a good person.” Kardashian also allegedly sees Fox being an admirer of hers as a “good thing,” citing that it would make it easier to parent together if everyone gets along.
After their split, West has since reportedly put one of his Wyoming ranch properties on the market. According to TMZ, his ranch in Cody, Wyoming, recently appeared on the property market listed at $11 million. He also recently purchased a $4.5 million home in Hidden Hills, right across the street from Kardashian’s home, reportedly in an attempt to stay close to their children after the divorce. From the outside looking in, it’s hard to decipher what’s truly going on with the former couple and their new, post-divorce relationships. But as West’s fans know, loving him is always a wild and unexpected journey and it’s never clear where it’s going to take you—but you know it will pay off in some way. For Kardashian, it led to eight years of marriage and four kids—North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm. There’s no telling where things between him and Fox will go, but it looks like she’s more than ready to find out.