Kim Kardashian West filed for divorce from Kanye West Friday after nearly seven years of marriage, court records show.
The move brings an impending end to one of the most followed celebrity unions of the 21st century. The reality TV star wed the hip-hop and fashion phenomenon, and together the couple had four children, amassed a vast fortune and even more fame.
Celebrity website TMZ cited unidentified sources that said the split was amicable and that Ms Kardashian had asked for joint custody of the couple's four children. The grounds for the divorce were not immediately known.
Representatives for Mr West did not immediately return a request for comment.
The filing follows months of leaks and reports that the marriage between the two celebrities was on the rocks.
The end of the marriage comes after the September announcement that the show Keeping Up With The Kardashians was coming to an end in 2021 after 14 years.
Ms Kardashian married Mr West, 43, in May 2014, and the couple became popularly known as "Kimye".
The couple began dating in 2012 and had their first child in 2013. Mr West proposed later that year using the big screen at the empty waterfront ballpark home to the San Francisco Giants. The two married May 24, 2014, in a ceremony at a Renaissance fortress in Florence, Italy.
Their four children are North, age 7, Saint, age 5, Chicago, age 3, and Psalm, 21 months old.
Both Ms Kardashian and Mr West parlayed their initial fame — his for being a sought-after hip-hop producer and the rapper behind hits like Stronger and Gold Digger, hers for being a reality TV star — into bigger endeavours and the pair have amassed considerable wealth.
Both Ms Kardashian and Mr West are reported to be billionaires. Mr West made his money through his music as well as his Yeezy fashion and sneaker line.
Ms Kardashian, who is training to be a social justice lawyer, made her money through her TV series, as a social media influencer and by developing a lucrative line of cosmetics and foundation garments.
They had more than their fair share of globetrotting, scene-making and controversy-stirring moments however, such as a trip to Jerusalem for North’s baptism, fashion weeks around the world (including one in Paris where Ms Kardashian was bound and robbed), as well as Mr West’s years-long feud with Taylor Swift.
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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend a basketball game between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California, on May 12, 2012, the year the couple began dating. EPA -
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the Valentino show as part of Paris Fashion Week on July 4, 2012 in Paris, France. Getty Images -
Kim Kardashian, then pregnant with their first child, daughter North, and Kanye West attend the Givenchy show as part of Paris Fashion Week on March 3, 2013 in Paris, France. Getty Images -
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, US, on May 6, 2013. Kardashian gave birth to North the following month. EPA -
The couple scored the April 2014 cover of 'Vogue' magazine. Courtesy Vogue -
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the Met Gala at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, US, on May 5, 2014. EPA -
People gather around Kim Kardashian, centre, and Kanye West, left, as they leave their residence in Paris on May 23, 2014, before their wedding. AFP -
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West make their way down the aisle after their wedding on May 24, 2014, at Fort di Belvedere in Florence, Italy. Courtesy E! Entertainment Television -
Kim Kardashian, baby North West, Kanye West and Helene Arnault attend the Givenchy show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on September 28, 2014 in Paris, France. Getty Images -
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend the Lacma Art + Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California, on November 1, 2014. EPA -
Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Kris Jenner attend the Balmain show as part of Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2015 in Paris, France. Getty Images -
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the 57th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California, on February 8, 2015. EPA -
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the Met Gala at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, US, on May 4, 2015. EPA -
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend the Time 100 Gala at Frederick P Rose Hall in New York, US, on April 21, 2015. EPA -
Kayne West and Kim Kardashian, pregnant with son Saint, attend the 32nd MTV Video Music Awards at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on August 30, 2015. EPA -
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend the Louis Vuitton show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 21, 2018 in Paris, France. Getty Images -
Corey Gamble, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott arrive at the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, US, on May 6, 2019. EPA -
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 92nd annual Academy Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, on February 9, 2020. EPA -
Visitors take a photo with the wax figures of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West at Madame Tussaud's in Istanbul, Turkey, on February 14, 2020. EPA -
Kim Kardashian and Rappers, Kanye West and J Cole attend the 69th NBA All-Star Game as part of 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend on February 16, 2020 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. AFP -
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian head out of their hotel on October 09, 2021 in New York City. Getty Images
The couple's already unconventional relationship became strained last year when Mr West, who suffers from bipolar disorder, ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign under his self-styled Birthday Party. The campaign was marked by erratic statements from Mr West.
Mr West was a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump and became a candidate himself last year, though he ended up having little effect on the election. Ms Kardashian has taken preliminary steps towards becoming a lawyer after increasingly devoting herself to freeing the unjustly imprisoned.
Her carefully curated persona stood in contrast to his unpredictable public actions, including wild statements and oversharing tweet storms.
In one of these from July 2020, since deleted, Mr West said he had been trying to divorce Ms Kardashian, that her mother Kris Jenner was a tyrant and that the family was trying to force him into psychiatric treatment.
Ms Kardashian responded with a statement on Instagram urging people to have compassion for Mr West as he struggled with mental illness.
“He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother has to deal with that pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder,” Ms Kardashian said. “Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words sometimes do not align with his intentions.”
The couple appeared to grow further apart, with the 21-time Grammy winner spending most of his time at his ranch in Wyoming and Ms Kardashian remaining in their Calabasas mansion outside Los Angeles.
TMZ reported that the couple had a prenuptial agreement and that discussions on a property settlement were well advanced.
The wedding was the first for Mr West and the third for Ms Kardashian after she had brief marriages to basketball player Kris Humphries and music producer Damon Thomas.
