After nearly seven years of marriage, Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West are going their separate ways.
The “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star’s divorce attorney Laura Wasser officially filed the divorce petition at the downtown offices of the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 19.
The divorce petition cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split and Kardashian West is requesting legal and joint custody of their four children.
The couple, who had become known as ‘Kimye,’ share North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.
While they were one of the world’s most talked about power-couples, they each found success in their own solo endeavors. In addition to starring in her family’s hit reality TV show, Kardashian West has built an empire that includes her shapewear and loungewear line SKIMS, her KKW Beauty line and her mobile game “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.”
She is also studying to become a lawyer and has been an active advocate in criminal justice reform. West is one of hip-hop’s most-talked about and biggest stars with 11 albums and multiple Grammys under his belt, and he has also found success with his sneaker brand, Yeezy, which has an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion dollars, according to Forbes.
Many began to speculate that the couple’s marriage was on the rocks around the time that West announced his late bid for president in July 2020. In since-deleted tweets, West said that he had been trying to divorce Kardashian West since Nov. 2018 and also accused her and her mother Kris Jenner of trying to “lock him up”.
Kardashian West later responded on Instagram, calling West a “brilliant but complicated person” and also asked fans to have compassion for him as he struggled with his mental health.
During an appearance on the Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No introduction with David Letterman” in 2019, West revealed his bipolar disorder diagnosis.
“Those who are close to Kanye know his heart and understand his words sometimes do not align with his intentions,” Kardashian West said via Instagram.
The pair attempted to repair their marriage by taking family trips to Cody, Wyoming and the Dominican Republic but ultimately, the now-former couple were both headed in different directions.
In an interview with PEOPLE, a source close to Kardashian said, “They are just not on the same page when it comes to their future as a family. And Kim is okay with that.”
The two began dating in 2012, shortly after Kardashian West filed for divorce from her second husband, former NBA player Kris Humphries.
She was also married to music producer Damon Dash from 2000 to 2004.
West proposed to Kardashian West in 2013 and the two later married in an extravagant ceremony in Florence, Italy in 2014.
