She thought he was an artistic genius.
He wanted to dip her ass in gold.
And now its over.
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Kanye West always knew his fate, it seemed.
And this fate was Kim Kardashian.
He knew in 2003, when they encountered each other for the first time.
By 2006, he was basically in love.
I felt like when we first got together, it was like a Romeo-and-Juliet kind of thing.
They earned our infatuation because they seemed preternaturally well suited for each other.
No matter how you felt about the separate ingredients, the combination felt completely right and true.
In the beginning, theirs was a lavish, baroque, well-documented show of adoration.
Kim thought Kanye was an artistic genius.
Kanye wanted to dip Kims ass in gold.
So we get that already flying and now were just flying together thing.
As much as theirs was a love story, it was also a story about power.
What image comesto mind when you think of the Greatest Love Story of the 2010s?
These are the images that launched Kimye.
When Kim and Kanye first got together, people thought his association with the Kardashians would ruin his career.
She was his muse.
He had to silence the critics.
DeGeneress response was an inscrutable Its very cool.
After Kanyes subversion came his push for normalization.
If Bound 2 was a love letter to prove it was all real, theVoguecover was the debutante ball.
It was always Kims dream to be on the cover.
Back then, Kanye was divisive but still respected.
But Kanyes A-list status helped Kim enter the upper echelons of fashion.
To land a cover after tabloids reported you couldnt even buy your way into the ball?
Thats like get-back-at-your-ex, glow-up energy on steroids.
The issue soldas well as the Michelle Obama and Beyonce covers of that year.
He was still mourning the sudden death of his mother, Donda West.
He was seeking a home and stability.
Theres a way that becoming a father and devoted wife guy smooths out the bumps in difficult men.
Kanye benefited from this law of the universe.
But Kim was different.
This messy firebrand was now out there sounding like a damn goober.
Even the best publicists couldnt have orchestrated a reputation-saver this good and Xenu knows theyve tried.
Do we not like these?
she asked Kanye, who replied that he liked a more natural look.
It was an expression of love to him, but viewers criticized him for acting controlling.
Its easiest to see Kanyes influence on Kim through the fashion world.
Kanye dressed everyone in Balmain at Paris Fashion Week.
Kylie Jenner walked in a 2015 Yeezy show in New York with the rest of the family in attendance.
He also allowed the Kardashian-Jenners easier entry into parts of the celebrity world they would come to dominate.
(Khloe Kardashian has been documented saying she has never seen a white penis.)
The real golden ageof Kimye spanned from 2014 to 2016.
In February 2016, Kanye had his biggest fashion show yet, for Yeezy season three.
It doubled as a listening party forTheLife of Pablo,and he packed out MSG.
And of course there was Kim, sitting between 2-year-old North and Anna Wintour.
The power of Kim and Kanye was in perfect balance, their worlds in symbiosis.
And then the scales began to tilt with Kim becoming bolder and asserting more control.
She felled his biggest one Taylor Swift with a mere Snapchat.
(Though some would argue there are really no winners in this ongoing fight.)
Singing Magic Stick to North until Kim had to explain why you cant sing Magic Stick to a child.
He just looked happy and goofy and kind.
But there would never be a Kimye spinoff.
There would have to be room for both of their egos.
He had been exhibiting bizarre behavior onstage and on social media.
The public acknowledgment of his mental-health challenges added context to his bewildering actions.
He taped his first confessional.
Kim, for her part, tried to focus on his role as a good husband and father.
Didnt understand the appeal of Yeezys monochrome spandex girdles?
While Kanye clowned around, Kim was building a more serious political brand for herself.
Kim then featured her in a Skims campaign.
TAKE OFF THE RED HAT!
Because he really is the sweetest person with the biggest heart, she said.
I used to care so much …
It gave me so much anxiety.
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