After almost two years, one of Hollywood’s most high-profile divorce cases – that of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West – has finally been settled.
Few celebrity marriages have captured global attention like that of the reality star, 42, and the rapper, 45; their potent mix of vast wealth and love of the spotlight proving irresistible to diehard fans and staunch critics alike.
As arrangements concerning the custody and welfare of their four children and property are finalised, the PA news agency takes a look at perhaps the most talked-about showbiz coupling of the 21st century.
After being friends for years – West appeared in a 2010 episode of Kourtney And Kim Take New York – and two of the most famous people on the planet, they started dating in April 2012.
Kardashian was still legally married to professional basketball player Kris Humphries, who she notoriously split from after 72 days of marriage.
In September of that year, the new couple appeared together at Paris Fashion Week and went on to become regular fixtures of the couture circuit.
Three months later and two began to become three, with West announcing on stage during a concert in New Jersey that Kardashian was expecting.
In May of the following year, the couple attended the Met Gala together, with a heavily pregnant Kardashian wearing the dress that launched a million memes.
Her floral print Givenchy gown – with matching gloves – attracted widespread mockery, with the late Robin Williams comparing her to Mrs Doubtfire.
It was one of the early examples of the Kardashian-West union electrifying the internet.
North West, the couple’s first daughter, was born in June 2013. Her name was leapt on by critics.
In October, West got down on one knee for a suitably ostentatious proposal, renting out AT and T Park in San Francisco.
Ahead of their wedding, the couple posed on the cover of Vogue, with Kardashian wearing a wedding gown.
The big day arrived on May 24 2014. The Wests tied the knot with a star-studded ceremony at Fort di Belvedere in Florence, Italy. Guests included the wider Kardashian-Jenner family as well as Chrissy Teigen and John Legend.
A year later, Kardashian announced the family was expanding – she was pregnant with her second child, a son the couple named Saint.
In October 2016, the couple’s world was rocked when Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint during Paris Fashion Week. She was bound and gagged during the raid and later admitted she thought she would be killed.
The thieves reportedly stole jewellery worth 10 million dollars (about £7.3 million). West was in the middle of a performance in New York when told about the incident and stopped midway through the concert, citing a “family emergency”.
The following month, West was taken to hospital, reportedly suffering from “temporary psychosis due to sleep deprivation and dehydration,” it was reported at the time.
He cancelled his tour to recover. It was not the last time West’s mental state made the headlines.
In January 2018, the Wests welcomed their third child – a daughter named Chicago, named after the rapper’s hometown.
In June, West released the album Ye and publicly declared he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He had earlier been strongly criticised for suggesting slavery in the US had been a “choice”.
As West occasionally returned to the headlines for his often controversial statements, he and Kardashian welcomed their fourth child, a son named Psalm, in May 2019.
The baby arrived via surrogate. In July 2020, West announced he was running for president and launched his White House bid with an event in North Charleston, South Carolina.
In an often rambling speech, he told a crowd he and Kardashian considered aborting their first child.
That month he posted a series of erratic tweets, claiming his wife had tried to get him locked up by doctors. He also made a series of accusations against his mother-in-law, Kris Jenner, before claiming had had previously tried to divorce Kardashian.
Kardashian later spoke about West’s battle with bipolar disorder, saying he is a “brilliant but complicated person” whose “words sometimes do not align with his intentions”.
During the latter half of 2020, reports resurfaced that the marriage was in difficulty.
Those rumours reached fever pitch in January 2021, with multiple US outlets suggesting divorce was imminent, claiming West had been living at his ranch in Wyoming while Kardashian had been with the children in California.
Those reports were confirmed in February of that year when Kardashian West filed for divorce.
Proceedings rumbled on over the course of 2021, which ended with Kardashian filing to be declared legally single while details of the settlement were still being finalised.
In legal documents she said no reconciliation will be “of any value” as irreconcilable differences “continue to exist” between the pair and that she had requested several times that West agree to the split.
Her request was granted in March, with the reality star changing her name back from Kardashian West, to just Kardashian – and in April she announced the rebranding of her KKW fragrance.
Despite reports of West’s continued attempts to win her back, Kardashian seemed adamant that the separation was final – going public with her rumoured relationship with Saturday Night Live (SNL) star Pete Davidson, just over a week after her legal single status was granted.
Meanwhile, the rapper also struck up a new relationship of his own, with actress and model Julia Fox.
The pair met on New Year’s Eve in Miami and were later pictured together attending the Tony Award-nominated Slave Play on Broadway, with Fox confirming the romance in January.
But sadly the relationship was not meant to last, with representatives for Fox confirming their split in mid-February.
It came as West’s online behaviour began to become increasingly erratic, lashing out at both Kardashian and Davidson on social media with a series of erratic Instagram posts.
The pair – who became colloquially known as “Kete” – split up in August after nine months of dating.
Kardashian and West’s divorce settlement was filed in Los Angeles on November 29th, and stipulated that the rapper should pay his former partner $200,000 per month in child support.
