How the Carter and Kimye clans fell out

TimesLIVE

4 days ago

Beyoncé has become renowned for her surprise acts and breathtaking performances but this week, she wowed audiences attending her Cowboy Carter Tour with an appearance from her husband, Jay Z. Performing some of the favourite hits they've recorded together, Jay was seen to be taking a swipe at his former BFF Kanye West when he said he would replace his name in their chart toppper N***gas in Paris with Beyoncé's instead, signalling an end to the decades-long bromance.
The feud has also included their wives, who have always dodged the rumour that they don't get along. Here is a look back at how the Carters and Kimye (Kim Kardashian and Kanye's portmanteau) went from double-date buds to sworn enemies.
FOR WHOM THE BLUEPRINT TOLLS (SEPTEMBER, 2001)
West and Jay Z first meet collaboratively when the producer gets a chance to work on Jay's album, The Blueprint. The song Izzo, which West worked on closely with Jay, became the latter's first top 10 hit on the Billboard charts. Even with the album's success, rappers at the time were still coming from harsh backgrounds and gang affiliations which Jay worried might not be a fit for Kanye.
THE CARTERS HAVE LANDED (NOVEMBER, 2001)
Jay spilt the beans on the two dating on his Vanity Fair cover where he admitted that he did the very best he could to wine and dine Beyoncé.
WEST'S HEROES (2002)
Jay and Beyoncé would work with West on their beloved Bonnie and Clyde duet, slowly cementing West as a favourite collaborator of Jay's behind the scenes.
GONE WITH THE GANGSTER (2004)
Jay and his business partner Damon Dash finally sign West to their Roc-A-Fella company. While still hesitant, West proves them wrong with his highly successful debut album The College Dropout. That same year, Jay and Beyoncé made their first red carpet debut.
THE STORY OF CHRIS MARTIN (2006)
Jay would burst back into the rap scene with a comeback album, Kingdom Come. The titular song would be made in collaboration with Chris Martin. This was about the same time West was already making his own effort with the star and would later be addressed in his third and highly successful album The Graduation. In the song Big Brother West describes his initial shyness and respect for Jay that would ultimately cause a "sibling rivalry that only he could see' to what he viewed as his "big brother' copying him.
THE RAPPER IN THE RYE (2007)
While Jay and Damon had their reservations about West due to his lack of gangster rap experience, West would also ruffle feathers with rappers outside of their company, especially hitmaker 50 Cent. This would result in their feud which would ignite a competition to see who would outsell the other. West would come out the champion and this would also affect the trajectory of rap, making him a greater success in the years to follow, eventually eclipsing gangster rap.
SAVING PRIVATE BEYONCÉ (2009)
West would make his support for The Carter's publicly known at the MTV VMAs of 2007, by taking the stage when Taylor Swift won the Best Female Video. He rated Beyoncé's Single Ladies"the best music video of all time' in comparison to Swift's video for You Belong to Me. While Beyoncé did not chastise West, she did invite Swift back onstage to finish her acceptance speech.
OPERATION CARTER WEDDING (APRIL 2008)
Paparazzi were at a standstill as they all fought to get their snaps of the top-secret Carter wedding. Speaking about the wedding, a source shared that it was "a very emotional wedding' for the couple.
TWO KINGS (2011)
The bromance between Jay and West would thrive following their highly successful collaborative album Watch the Throne.
THE BOY IN THE SUIT AND TIE (FEBRUARY 2013)
West was not too pleased by Jay partnering with former NSYNC lead singer, Justin Timberlake for their collaborative effort. He said, "I got love for Hov [Jay Z], but I ain't f--king with that Suit & Tie.' This was part of a rant during one of his performances, something he would become famous for over the decade.
TWO MORE KINGS (JULY, 2013)
The relationship between the two was going well, with Jay sharing glowing praise for West and said "it's always been a 'Big Brother' thing and a respect thing' when asked by the BBC. He also told them he would love to collaborate with West again in Watch the Throne 2. West and Kardashian would also welcome a baby that year, as well as an engagement.
ARMY OF SOLANGE (MAY, 2014)
A media furore reputed when pictures of a visibly shaken Jay and a livid Solange were seen at the Met Gala alongside Beyoncé and her bodyguard. Over the next couple of years, it would be revealed that it was in reaction to the news of Jay's infidelity, which would be discussed in his album 4:44 as well as Beyonce's Lemonade.
They would all go viral shortly after elevator footage was released of Solange beating Jay, with the bodyguard trying to stop her.
THE WEDDING GAME (MAY/APRIL 2014)
While the Carters attempted to deal with their nuptial affairs, there would be cause for concern when they did not make an appearance at Kimye's wedding in Italy. Beyoncé would share a tribute to the couple on Instagram in absentia. Kanye would address the matter with GQ, telling them that it did not matter who did or didn't attend, what mattered was "the important person to show up there; to me, it was Kim'.
THE BIG MUSIC MUSE (FEBRUARY, 2015)
All was well with the foursome, but eyebrows were raised when West shared that Kim was a direct inspiration for much of Beyoncé's songwriting, claiming the Single Ladies singer had pictures of Kardashian o n her wall. Later that month, West showed support for Beyoncé at the Grammy Awards, even mocking his gaffe with Swift by pretending to storm the stage when singer Beck won an award over the singer.
FROM HERE TO PARIS (2016)
Following a robbery in Paris that Kardashian narrowly survived, The Carters would be in hot water for not showing enough support for the traumatised Kimye. "Don't call me after the robbery and say 'how you feelin?' You wanna know how I'm feelin'? Come by the house,' West told The Standard.
BROMANCE UNDER FIRE (JULY, 2017)
Rumours continued to spread as tabloids and fans speculated that Jay and West were at odds. Forbes reported that West left Tidal in July that year; a shock, since West was also co-owner of the streaming platform.
CASUALTIES OF BROTHERHOOD (DECEMBER, 2017)
In an interview, Jay finally broke his silence and shared that there was competition between the two. He said that West had "always been like his big brother'.
"And we're both entertainers. It's always been like a little underlying competition with your big brother. And we both love and respect each other's art, too. So it's like, we're both — everyone wants to be the greatest in the world. You know what I'm saying?'
ALL QUIET ON THE CARTER FRONT (MARCH, 2018)
West would share in 2025 that he had reached out to his friends Jay and Beyonce to help him get "leverage' against Kardashian's control of his children. The couple was seperated at the time and would eventually divorce in 2022.
A VERY LONG WEDDING (MAY, 2018)
During a sit-down interview for The Breakfast Club, West suggested that he was in fact hurt that the Carters never made the wedding. "I understand they were going through some things, but if it's family, you're not going to miss a wedding.' He also shared that he never asked Jay why he and Beyoncé did not make the wedding.
JAY'S LIST (FEBRUARY 2025)
Following a partnership to produce halftime shows for the NFL, Jay's biggest show would be one by Kendrick Lamar. Several rappers would be upset they were not included alongside Kanye, who was not pleased.
INGLORIOUS KANYE (MARCH, 2025)
As West continued to rant and rave on X, he also aimed attacks at the Carter's young twins Rumi and Sir, saying they were "retarded'. He told Page Six that he removed the post because he did not want to have his X account deleted. While he did eventually express remorse, Tina Knowles mocked him on her return to Instagram, where she also said, "It's hard to remain positive and classy in the face of ignorance and evil. But I know that no weapon formed against me or my family shall prosper.'
Kanye would also release a series of posts apologising to the couple and again reiterating how hurt he was that they never attended his wedding. He also shared that the debacle about who was allowed to perform at the halftime show bothered him, as he would have loved to have been included.