Julia Fox Felt ‘Uncomfortable’ Being Used as Kanye West’s ‘Pawn’: ‘I Regret That Relationship So Much’

In January 2022, Interview Magazine published an inside look at one of Kanye West‘s date nights with Julia Fox. It was a collection of photos with an introduction written by the actress and model. She wrote about how they met and their jet-setting dates that often played out like public spectacles. “It was every girl’s dream come true,” she wrote. Except, as it turns out, it wasn’t at all. In a recent interview with the Times, Fox revealed that those words weren’t her own, having been replaced by West following his dissatisfaction with her version of events. That story represents only one instance in which Fox said she felt as though she was being used as a “pawn” by the controversial artist.

“I regret that relationship so much,” Fox said. “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.” Her account of the relationship includes a series of fabrications and ignored requests, like her wanting to keep their dating life private. “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,” she added. “I realised pretty quickly I was being used as a pawn.”

West and Fox’s relationship was short-lived, sparked in the aftermath of the rapper’s split from his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and the model’s breakup with her ex-husband Peter Artemiev. She has expressed on multiple occasions that the relationship was non-sexual and previously shared that she thought it would help Kardashian to get West to leave her alone and move on. Instead, she said in October 2023, “I learned very quickly that I was being weaponized. I just felt like his little puppet.”

Fox told the Times that West issued her an ultimatum toward the end of their relationship. “I can’t be friends with you if you don’t sign [an NDA],” he reportedly texted her. In response, she replied, “I’ll live.” She credits her son, who is three years old now, with guiding her out of the relationship. “I really credit my son for being my grounding force,” Fox said. “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.”

Last year, Fox spoke to Rolling Stone about her book Down the Drain, where she revealed more details about the private side of her public life. “I think for a long time, I was a ‘pick me,’” she said, noting her old habit of vying for male validation. “I wanted to be hot and look good and have men like me and fawn all over me. I didn’t care if it took a toll on who I really am. It [took] a lot of denial and a lot of lying to yourself.”

Earlier this year, Fox came out as lesbian in an off-the-cuff TikTok post. In a more elaborate statement to the Times, she shared: “I’d definitely be up for a relationship with a woman. You cannot equate that to a relationship with a man. With a woman you’re with your bestie, whereas ultimately men are always going to prioritise other men over you. Men love other men and masculine shit, and watching homoerotic things such as wrestling and football. In this toxic culture I don’t think there’s room for them to love me.”