The kash of Kimye
In the world of celebrity divorces, this is the big one. With a joint fortune running into billions, the world is braced for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West to divide up their assets after seven years of high-profile married life. And what assets. With homes in the L.A. hills and ranches in Wyoming, not to mention a trove of jewels and a Us$3.9-million car collection, it is testament to the joint brand that the reality television star and the rapper built together.
It has emerged that thanks to a detailed pre-nuptial agreement, the divorce will in all likelihood be amicable, even accounting for West’s frequently erratic behaviour.
Legal experts say the case is likely to have already been negotiated in private mediation between their attorneys, or with a private judge.
In court records the couple
— who married in 2014 — cite irreconcilable differences, with Kardashian and West seeking joint custody of their four children.
It is being reported Kardashian has a few concerns about West and the children, believing he needs caretakers and family members on hand to care for them, and that he not be around during bipolar episodes.
She has reportedly hired lawyer Laura Wasser, nicknamed “disso queen” due to her work on the divorces of high-profile celebrities.
It all seems fitting for a marriage that was pored over by the media and public, and was chronicled by Kardashian herself in her long-running reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians and through their Instagram and Twitter accounts, followed by millions.
Both Kardashian, 40, and West, 43, were global celebrities before marrying, but as a couple they combined their celebrity star status to reach new levels of wealth. Their brand has come to define the recent phenomena of social media-driven mega-fame.
According to Forbes magazine, Kardashian is worth US$780 million, largely through her cosmetics firm KKW Beauty, while West is said to be worth US$1.8 billion through his fashion brand, Yeezy. Both will retain control of their respective brand empires.
But as if confirmation was ever needed that money does not necessarily buy you happiness, the wheels started coming off the “Kimye” bandwagon a while ago.
Kanye’s failed presidential bid — he received just 60,000 votes across 12 states — reportedly put a strain on their marriage, not helped by the rapper making a series of wild allegations against Kardashian and her family on Twitter and during a presidential
campaign rally in
July.
West claimed she had considered aborting their first child North and suggested that divorce had been on the cards since she met the singer Nicki Minaj’s ex Meek Mill at a hotel in 2018.
He later issued a public apology to Kardashian, who defended him and spoke about his struggle with bipolar disorder.
The rapper has reportedly
been living at his ranch in Wyoming while Kardashian has been with the children in Los Angeles.
Sources suggest West is likely to keep the two ranches in Wyoming, each valued at $14 million, while Kardashian will probably keep the couple’s 15,667-square-foot mansion in Hidden Hills, Los Angeles, which they bought in 2014 for $20 million, spending another $20 million in renovations.