Julia Fox has said her short lived relationship with Kanye West put her in one of the most awkward public positions of her life.
The Uncut Gems star, 34, dated the rapper, 47, shortly after he split from his wife and reality TV star Kim Kardashian and was criticised for making a series of anti-simetic comments online.
Fox revealed she never wanted to go public with her relationship with West, who is now legally known as Ye, and was used as a “pawn” during their involvement.
Speaking to The Times, Fox said: “I regret that relationship so much. I hate it! It was only a few weeks but enough to last me a lifetime. I was in probably the most uncomfortable position in my life and that’s saying a lot. I don’t want to be known for being anyone’s girlfriend.”
Of the scrutiny she received for dating West shortly after his separation from his wife, the actor said: “It wasn’t my idea for it to go public. If anything, I was like, ‘We should wait,’ and then boom, it was done behind my back. I realised pretty quickly I was being used as a pawn.”
Fox revealed she and West never had sex during their brief relationship. However, they would play games of Uno and, on one occasion, the rapper offered to get her a boob job.
The relationship came to an end when Fox refused to sign West’s non-disclosure agreement. “I can’t be friends with you if you don’t sign it,” he texted her. “I’ll live,” she replied.
Of her strength to walk away from the entanglement, Fox said: “I really credit my son for being my grounding force. It was like, ‘I can’t go down this spiral because no man, no matter how rich or famous, is worth one minute away from my child.’”
The No Sudden Move star said she holds no resentment towards West now. “I’m not about to hold a grudge and make my life miserable because I’m still angry about something,” she said.
“At some point you have to forgive and move on, because you think you’re hurting the other person but you’re really just hurting yourself.”
The Independent has contacted a representative of West for comment.
This isn’t the first time the actress has mentioned her relationship with West. In her memoir Down the Drain, which came out in October 2023, she relayed how they met on New Year’s Day 2021 and he asked her to be his girlfriend the next day while they were having dinner.
“‘Would you want to be my girlfriend?’ He added: ‘How would you feel about taking the relationship public?’” her book read.
Despite telling the rapper “no” at first, she ended up changing her mind. “‘If you’re worried about me embarrassing you, I wouldn’t do that. You have a son, and my mom was a single mom,’” he told her in an attempt to convince her.
The memoir also detailed West sending her various clothes right after meeting that were all skintight black jumpsuits. Then, during their second date, he wanted to give her an entire stylist team with the goal of upgrading her wardrobe.
By date number three, she had to meet the stylist West hired for her in a restaurant’s bathroom because he didn’t like the outfit she showed up in. The stylist had offered her something different to wear, with Fox claiming that she felt like “a show monkey” when the outfit was handed to her.
Prior to the book’s release, Fox spoke with the Los Angeles Times, where she recalled thinking her relationship with West “could be something real” when they first began dating.
“I really understood him on a visceral level,” Fox said, adding that she “thought ultimately I’d be helping a precarious situation” when it came to his dynamic with his ex, Kim Kardashian.
“But I learned very quickly that I was being weaponised,” she added. “I just felt like his little puppet.”