Kim Kardashian officially filed to divorce Kanye West back in February 2021, and now, more than two years later, it seems she’s reflecting on the more tumultuous aspects of their marriage.
Sitting down for a wide ranging interview for Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast this week, Kim opened up about the importance of aligning your values with the people you surround yourself with — a lesson she said she learned the “hard way.”
The most extreme example of this is arguably Kanye’s republican image and his advocacy for Donald Trump, which started back in 2016, four years before he eventually launched his own presidential bid in 2020.
Though Kim attempted to defend her husband on several occasions during this time, it’s since become clear that his political stance was one of the main contributors to their divorce, with Kim previously calling his presidential run the “final straw” in their marriage.
So, without naming Kanye explicitly, Kim spoke on Jay’s podcast this week about the difficulties that come with having “different views” to those closest to you, noting how it can ultimately be detrimental to relationships.
“I’ve learned maybe the hard way, because I feel like I'm at a really good place now,” Kim began. “But something I learned is that you cannot help people that don't want the help and don’t… you can't force your beliefs and project that on someone that thinks something totally different.”
The Skims founder went on to say that it’s “OK to have those different views,” but added that “if you don't align in the same values and morals and things at your core,” then it’s also fine to seek out those who do.
“You have to let go of the idea of molding people into what you really want. … Thinking you have the power to change someone is so selfish and so crazy, and everyone does it,” she said.
Interestingly, Kim said that sometimes people with differing opinions can “coexist really well,” but other times, that can’t be the case — even when you’ve been together for a long time.
“Sometimes, I feel like people think that if a relationship doesn't work out that it's a failure, but I don't really look at it like that — 15 years together, 10 years. That's not a failure. That is so beautiful,” she said, perhaps nodding toward her own decade-spanning history with Kanye.
“Know it’s OK to choose yourself and find what does align and that it's OK that you can't fix everyone. And maybe those people don't need fixing,” she said, before adding, “Maybe it's me that that’s my thing, that I wanna fix someone.”
Reflecting on these relationship breakdowns more specifically, Kim said it’s common for people to go “hard on themselves” and view them as “big failures,” suggesting instead that it’s better to view them in a more positive light.
“I love falling back. As painful as it can be to watch sometimes that's what they were here to go through. Or what is the point of this life to have everything perfect and follow all the magical paths,” she said. “Like, that’s just not life.”
