In 2021, the world was in a state of shock when American reality star Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from rapper and YEEZY founder Kanye West. And now a legal specialist has taken a look into the former's separation to see how and why it "turned nasty".
The couple, who got married in Italy back in 2014, were worth an estimated two-billion dollars before they split. And with four children in the mix too, their goals of having an amicable divorce did not last long. And now fans can watch on as the couple's divorce plays out in a new two-part docuseries called Kim vs Kanye: The Divorce, which is available to stream now on Discovery+.
One legal commentator sums up the divorce in the docuseries, with them stating: "Both Kim and Kanye said they wanted an amicable divorce… soon it was clear that it was not going to be the case. It turned nasty, it turned litigious".
The documentary illustrates how Kanye’s behaviour "was too much for Kim to bear", with Kim cutting the rapper out of the Kardashian empire. And all of this paired with "neglect, isolation, and love for his family" pulled away from Kanye, this urged the rapper to try and keep the marriage on track and led to "creepy" behaviour and love-bombing.
When the marriage was breaking down and Kim became "legally single", you will likely remember how Kanye showered her with love and affection as a way to win his wife back. Kanye was "unwilling to accept what was happening", a journalist explains in the two-parter, with him adding that Kanye's behaviour came off as "creepy".
Kim Kardashian weighs in on sister feud after Kourtney's sad 'outsider' claimsWith the rapper buying a home close to Kim, getting her thousands of roses, and taking to Instagram to declare his love to her, Kanye did all he could to try and reunite his family and reconcile with the SKIMS founder. In February 2022, Kanye took to Instagram and shared a post which read: "GOD PLEASE BRING OUR FAMILY BACK TOGETHER".
In the documentary, Virginia Gilbert unpicks Kanye's behaviour and the "love-bombing" he partook in. She said that this act was "not about love" but instead about "flooding the other person with attention so that you can then control them”. Kanye’s divorce attorney, Nick Salick, also weighs in when he says that Kanye "didn't want to get divorced" but instead "wanted to save the marriage".
But in the two-parter, it is claimed that the passing of Donda West, Kanye's mother, could have led to the rapper's worrying behaviour. One journalist touches upon how Kanye paid for the plastic surgery that his mother had before she died of complications from said surgery, with this said to have led to a lot of guilt felt by the star with his mental health then discussed.
Kim and Kanye had differing opinions with many things , with Kanye’s lawyer revealing: "Ye objected to the way Kim was parenting the children". With it also being said that Kanye wanted to shield his kids from the fame that comes with being in the Kardashian family.
Kim’s former media strategist then revealed how the divorce caused the reality star to suffer from "nightmares" as well as "anxiety issues, relationship issues, confidence issues, you name it… that was real pain ". And then a divorce specialist added that they saw Kanye "behaving like an emotional terrorist, because he bullied her through social media".
Although the divorce process was somewhat nasty on the outside, it ended amicably with joint custody over their four kids and the rapper paying a sizeable maintenance payment to Kim each month.
Kimye, as they were fondly known and referred to while together, share four children, whom they share joint custody of: North West (born June 2013), Saint West (born December 2015), Chicago West (born via surrogate in January 2018), and Psalm West (born via surrogate in May 2019).
The brand-new series of Kim vs Kanye: The Divorce is available to stream now exclusively on discovery+.