Kim Kardashian Declared Legally Single in Kanye West Divorce Case
A little over a year after filing for divorce from Kanye West, a Los Angeles judge has declared Kim Kardashian legally single.
At a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Judge Steven Cochran said he would grant the reality star’s request to split her divorce from West into two parts — immediately ending their marriage, while punting more complex questions about assets and custody to future proceedings.
Attorneys for West had sought three preconditions before such a ruling. At the hearing, the judge granted one — about what happens if either star dies before the divorce case is finalized — but denied two others, including restrictions on what would happen if Kardashian quickly remarried.
Wednesday’s order came just over a year after Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021 after six years of marriage. Both sides initially said that the split would be amicable, but the relationship between the two superstars has turned increasingly acrimonious in the year since, as both have begun public romances with new partners.
Kardashian requested the quick-split maneuver in December, but West filed objections last month, seeking the three stipulations. She then fired back, complaining that he had caused her “emotional distress” with social media outbursts and suggesting he needed “help” to “accept that our marital relationship is over.” Kanye quickly called those claims “hearsay.”
Before Judge Cochran’s ruling, divorce attorneys for the two stars squared off in a hearing. Kardashian, appearing by videoconference, was represented by lawyer Laura Wasser, a top L.A. divorce lawyer. West, who did not appear, was repped by Samantha Spector, another high-profile family lawyer who only joined the case a day before when Kanye fired his previous attorney, Chris Melcher.
