Kim Kardashian may have moved forward with her life following her divorce from Kanye West, but their shared history continues to shape a relationship that neither can entirely leave behind. As the parents of four children, the former couple remain connected by family responsibilities, complicated emotions and Kardashian’s enduring concern for the man she once married.
In a new authorized biography, Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future, journalist Jonathan Van Meter explores the reality behind Kardashian’s carefully managed public image, including her feelings about West and the challenges of co-parenting after a deeply publicized separation.
Kardashian, 46, made clear that her concern for her former husband has not disappeared, even as she acknowledges the need to protect her own emotional boundaries.
“Oh, I worry about [Kanye] all day. All the time. That’s the father of my kids, I’ll never not worry about him,” she said.
The statement captures the complicated distinction between ending a marriage and ending the emotional investment that comes with building a family together. For Kardashian, the relationship has changed, but the connection remains.
The Reality of Co-Parenting After Divorce
Kardashian and West married in 2014 and welcomed four children together: North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm. Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021, and their divorce was finalized in 2022.
In the years since their separation, both have continued to attract intense public attention, often with their personal lives becoming subjects of broader debate. Yet Kardashian’s latest comments suggest that the day-to-day reality of co-parenting is less dramatic than the headlines might imply, even if it requires considerable emotional work.
She described having children with someone with whom she does not always get along as a significant burden. At the same time, she emphasized that she tries to shield the children from the negative aspects of their parents’ relationship.
“My kids would never know that,” she said, explaining that she does everything in her power to put the difficult parts of the past aside.
Kardashian also acknowledged the importance of boundaries, recalling advice from her therapist that she needs to maintain them. Her comments suggest an ongoing effort to balance concern for West with the need to establish a healthier dynamic for herself and her family.
Despite their differences, she said the pair have managed to co-parent without too much conflict.
A More Distant Relationship, but Not an Absent One
According to Kardashian, things have been relatively smooth for some time, partly because she and West do not communicate frequently. When they do see one another, she said, they are on sufficiently good terms to exchange a hug.
That relative calm does not necessarily mean their relationship has returned to what it once was. Instead, it appears to reflect a practical arrangement in which distance and clearly defined boundaries help limit conflict.
Kardashian revealed that communication often takes place through West’s wife, Bianca Censori, or through his management rather than directly between the former spouses.
The arrangement offers a glimpse into the unusual logistics of co-parenting when both parents have highly public profiles and a complicated shared history. Their relationship is no longer simply a private matter between two people. It exists alongside public scrutiny, professional obligations and the demands of raising four children.
Kardashian also said she remains close to members of West’s family, suggesting that the connections formed during their marriage have not all disappeared with the divorce.
Throughout her comments, one point remains consistent: she wants her children to maintain their relationship with their father, regardless of the difficulties that have occurred between the adults.
Remembering the Man She Married
Kardashian’s concern for West cannot be separated from the contrast she has described between the person she remembers from their marriage and the public controversies that followed.
West disclosed his bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2016, two years after the couple married. In the years that followed, his public statements and behaviour became the subject of widespread criticism, including after he made antisemitic remarks in 2022.
At the time, Kardashian spoke about the emotional difficulty of seeing someone she had loved become associated with conduct she found deeply troubling.
“It’s really confusing for me that it’s so different than the person that I married because that’s who I loved and that’s who I remember,” she said in an episode of The Kardashians. “I’ll do anything to get that person back.”
Her earlier remarks help explain the emotional complexity behind her latest statement. Concern for West does not mean disregarding the harm caused by his actions or denying the difficulties of their relationship. Rather, Kardashian’s words suggest that memories of their marriage and the responsibility they share as parents continue to coexist with the need for distance.
It is a distinction that can be difficult to maintain when a former partner’s personal life unfolds in public, where private feelings are often interpreted as either support or rejection.
West’s Public Apology and the Question of Accountability
In 2026, West published a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal containing an apology for his behaviour. In a letter titled “To Those I’ve Hurt,” he addressed the controversy surrounding his antisemitic statements and rejected the labels of Nazi and antisemite.
West also discussed his experience of bipolar disorder, describing periods of disconnection and poor judgment that he said he could not always recall. He expressed regret and said he was committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change, while acknowledging that his diagnosis did not excuse his actions.
The letter placed renewed attention on the relationship between mental health, public accountability and the consequences of harmful behaviour. A diagnosis can provide context for someone’s experiences, but it does not erase the impact of their actions on others.
For Kardashian, whose family remains connected to West, those questions are not simply matters of public debate. They exist alongside the personal reality of raising children with him and navigating a relationship that continues long after the marriage ended.
Her comments do not suggest that every past conflict has been resolved. Instead, they reveal a willingness to recognize the continuing connection while remaining conscious of the boundaries she needs.
Protecting the Children From the Past
The most revealing aspect of Kardashian’s account may be her insistence that her children should not have to carry the emotional weight of their parents’ disagreements.
North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm are growing up with two parents whose lives have been intensely scrutinized. Their family circumstances have played out in public, but Kardashian’s stated priority is to preserve their relationship with their father and keep adult conflicts from defining their experience of family.
That approach requires separating the children’s needs from the history between their parents. Kardashian can acknowledge that the marriage was difficult, that boundaries are necessary and that she continues to worry about West without asking her children to adopt her perspective.
It is a complicated balancing act, particularly when the wider public often treats celebrity relationships as stories with clear heroes, villains and final chapters. Co-parenting rarely follows such a simple narrative. It involves ongoing decisions, adjustments and the recognition that two people can no longer function as partners while remaining connected through their children.
Kardashian’s account suggests that, for now, a degree of distance has helped them maintain a more peaceful arrangement.
When a Marriage Ends but Concern Remains
Kardashian’s remarks offer a more nuanced picture of life after a high-profile divorce. Moving on does not necessarily mean losing concern for a former partner, particularly when that person remains the parent of one’s children. Nor does concern require ignoring past difficulties or abandoning personal boundaries.
Her description of the relationship is neither a declaration of reconciliation nor a rejection of West. It is an acknowledgment that affection, worry, disappointment and responsibility can exist at the same time.
The former couple’s story has often been reduced to public disputes and dramatic headlines. Kardashian’s latest comments point instead to the quieter reality behind the spectacle: the ongoing work of co-parenting, the emotional residue of a long relationship and the effort to protect children from the parts of adult life they should not have to manage.
For Kardashian, the marriage may be over, but the family connection remains. And as long as West is the father of her children, she says, her concern for him will not simply disappear.
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