Kim Kardashian has filed for divorce from her husband, Kanye West, her publicist confirmed to CBS News on Friday. The reality star and the Grammy-winning hip-hop artist had long been rumored to be ending their six-year marriage.
The two married in a 2014 ceremony in Italy after the birth of their first daughter, North, 7, and went on to have three more children: Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and Psalm, 1. It was the third marriage for Kardashian, whose first marriage was to producer Damon Thomas and second to basketball player Kris Humphreys, and the first for West.
The news comes after a tumultuous year for the couple. West, who is 43, announced in July via Twitter what turned out to be a disorganized campaign for the presidency, a move he had been toying with for years. He quickly drew criticism for accepting millions in federal stimulus funding for his clothing and sneaker business, Yeezy.
After he made controversial statements at a South Carolina campaign rally and tweeted a series of late-night comments aimed at his wife, Kardashian came forward to discuss his ongoing struggles with bipolar disorder.
“Anyone who has [bipolar disorder] or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how complicated and painful it is to understand,” Kardashian wrote on Instagram at the time. “I’ve never spoken publicly about how this has affected us at home because I am very protective of our children and Kanye’s right to privacy when it comes to his health.”
In September, the 40-year-old Kardashian and her family announced the end of their long-running reality show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” the last season of which is set to premiere next month.
Kardashian turned to advocacy during the last presidential administration. She lobbied the Trump White House on criminal justice reform and helped win the release of Alice Johnson in 2018, visiting the White House last March to continue her efforts. She has said she is studying to become a lawyer. Her father, Robert Kardashian, was a criminal defense attorney who once represented O.J. Simpson and died in 2003.
The two have not commented publicly on the split.
Lisa Bacon contributed reporting.
