Not so long ago, Kim Kardashian was crying on camera about the man who torpedoed his own career with antisemitic rants and dragged their private life across social media for the world to pick apart. Now she is calling him family.
In a cover story for Complex published this week, the 45-year-old was asked where things stand with Kanye West, now known as Ye. 'We'll always be family,' she said. 'We both know that. We will be OK, and there's so much love for our family. We want what's best for our kids.'
It sounds like something a publicist might draft. But given the past three years, even a rehearsed olive branch means something. They share four children - North, 12, Saint, 10, Chicago, eight, and Psalm, six. Walking away was never an option.
Still Wearing Yeezy After Everything
What brought it up was a TikTok Kardashian posted in December, styling a pair of Yeezy heels for a trip to Aspen. She could have worn anything. She chose her ex-husband's shoes and tagged the brand. 'I couldn't deny the Yeezy heel, so I had to shout it out,' she told the magazine.
Which is a fairly generous thing to say about a man whose public behaviour since their split has been, to put it mildly, chaotic. Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021 after nearly seven years of marriage. West went after her and her then-boyfriend, Pete Davidson on social media, posted private texts, and spiralled into a series of antisemitic outbursts that cost him his Adidas deal and most of his standing in the entertainment industry.
On The Kardashians last autumn, she was blunter. 'It's very confusing because it'll be all this talk on the internet like, 'I'm keeping the kids.' He's never once called and asked.' Then, flatly: 'It's a divorce, not a kidnapping.'
A Brain Aneurysm, Then A Full-Page Apology
The physical cost surfaced in October. The season seven premiere of the show revealed Kardashian had been diagnosed with a small brain aneurysm, which doctors linked to stress, ABC News reported. Her psoriasis came back, too. Scans at Cedars-Sinai confirmed the aneurysm was manageable, but watching her break down on camera over a marriage that kept finding new ways to hurt her left little to the imagination about how bad things had gotten.
Then on 26 January, Ye took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal. Titled 'To Those I've Hurt,' the rapper blamed a car crash 25 years ago for an undiagnosed brain injury, cited a four-month manic episode tied to his bipolar disorder, and asked for forgiveness, according to NBC News. His wife Bianca Censori had pushed him to get help, he said. The apology landed days before his album Bully dropped. Draw your own conclusions.
Kardashian did not mention the ad in her Complex interview. But her softer tone is hard to separate from the calendar.
Tour Jackets In A Cupboard Somewhere
Most of the interview was business. Kardashian is deep into her NikeSKIMS venture - only the second standalone brand Nike has created since Jordan in 1997, Complex noted.
The Spring 2026 collection with BLACKPINK's Lisa launched this week. SKIMS sits at a $4 billion (£3.2 billion) valuation. She has a lead role in Ryan Murphy's Netflix legal drama All's Fair. Single life suits her, she has said on the show. Dating sounds 'less and less appealing.'
But one detail stuck. Kardashian told the magazine she had saved every costume from every Kanye West concert tour for their kids. Glow in the Dark. Watch the Throne. Yeezus. The Margiela looks, the Givenchy pieces, all of it boxed up somewhere. 'I collect everything,' she said. 'They're memories. Maybe I'm a memory hoarder.'
That says more than any prepared quote about being family ever could. Three years of trying to untangle her life from a man who refused to go quietly, and she is still keeping his tour jackets for the kids. The divorce is done. Whatever this is, clearly, it is not.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
© Copyright IBTimes 2025. All rights reserved.
