The rapper's devotion to the reality superstar over the years is undeniable.
Although Kim Kardashian West officially filed for divorce from Kanye West on Friday, nobody can deny his well-documented devotion to her over the years. The 43-year-old rapper has a long history of showering 40-year-old Kim with grand gestures and lavish gifts, some as touching as they are over the top. In light of the split news, let's take a look back at his most epic overtures during happier times in their relationship.
When he proposed by renting out a whole baseball stadium:
Kanye asked Kim to be his wife on her 33rd birthday on Oct. 21, 2013 in front of her family and close friends, renting out San Francisco's AT&T Park for the occasion. He hired an orchestra to perform Lana Del Rey's song, "Young and Beautiful."
In an interview with Los Angeles radio station Power 106, Kanye talked about planning out the entire proposal.
"Yeah, they didn't have the lights exactly like I wanted it to be," he noted. "I'm arguing with the guy who put it together for me. He's talking about, 'Man, it need to be more romantic.' I said, 'It's a baseball field. What you talking about? If I wanted to be romantic, I would have gone to a small restaurant or something.'"
But he also knew he hit the proposal out of the park.
"I got to apologize to the race of males for turning up so much," he cracked.
His stunning flower arrangements:
Clearly, Kanye has a thing for flowers.
... And who can forget their iconic 2014 wedding photo in front of a flower wall? The post broke the Instagram record for most-liked photo at the time, racking up nearly 2 million "likes" in just three days.
The romance was definitely not dead after the couple tied the knot. Kanye has surprised Kim with show-stopping flowers on multiple occasions throughout their marriage, like their 3-year wedding anniversary in 2017. Kim shared a video of the huge arrangements he gave her on Snapchat.
"I mean, how cute that I get to come home and see these gorgeous floating flowers," Kim said while showing off the sweet present. "Happy anniversary."
On her 38th birthday in 2018, he again decked out their home with gorgeous floating flower arrangements, and treated her to a private concert by a talented pianist.
"@KimKardashian You're stunning," Kanye wrote alongside a video of the extravagant gesture on Twitter. "I will keep trying to make things that can express how beautiful you are inside and out and how much I love you and our family."
Kim definitely appreciated the gift, tweeting, "The most beautiful birthday flowers in the world!!!!! I have the sweetest most creative husband! Thank you babe love you so much!!!"
When he got 112 to sing for her:
In January 2019, Kim couldn't contain her excitement when her husband got R&B group 112 to sing their 1996 hit, "Cupid," a cappella to her over FaceTime.
"This is one of the best days of my life," she said over the phone after they sang the chorus. "Oh my god, I have to call my sisters."
When he got Kenny G to play for her on Valentine's Day:
One month after Kanye's 112 surprise, he managed to top himself by arranging for legendary saxophonist Kenny G to serenade Kim with a private performance at their home in a room filled with roses on Valentine's Day. Kim tweeted footage of Kenny playing his hit song, "Breathless," and also captured a beaming Kanye, clearly proud of his work.
"NO BIG DEAL KENNY G IN MY LIVING ROOM!!!" Kim wrote. "Happy Valentines Day."
"Best husband award goes to mine!!!!" she added. "Most thoughtful gifts ever!!!!"
Kenny later talked to Rolling Stone about how the surprise for Kim came together.
"Really late night I got a couple of emails, one from a publicist that knows Kanye's manager. He told me that Kanye had requested me to come to the house and serenade Kim in the morning," Kenny told the magazine, adding that the email explained it was going to take place in a room surrounded with roses. "I thought, 'That actually sounds really beautiful.'"
"Then I got a text from David Foster, who told me he had heard about the request and told me I should definitely do it," he continued. "I didn’t get the message until, like, 11 o’clock at night. It just happened to work out, ‘cause I'm in town and I don't live very far from where they live. So it worked out really well."
Kenny shared that it took a lot of people to make the gesture happen.
"I don’t even have enough hands to count all the people that I met," he said. "Once I got to the house, I was just warming up in a room, and then Kanye came in. He could not have been nicer. He was so warm and accommodating. Just chit-chatting about music. It was super cool."
The Cartier necklace he gave her engraved with his text:
Kanye combined luxury with thoughtfulness with his gift for Kim in January 2020. On Twitter, Kim showed off a gold necklace with a large rectangular charm that had small writing on it. She explained the significance of the gift, writing, "If you look closely at my necklace, you can see it’s from a text Kanye sent me. He took an amazing vintage Cartier gold plaque necklace and had it sketched out. He's always the most thoughtful when it comes to gifts."
The touching text reads, "This your life. Married with four kids. Get people out of jail. Cover of Vogue. Go to church every week with your family. Dreams come true."
The hologram he got her of her late father, Robert Kardashian:
Kanye of course went all out for Kim's 40th birthday in October 2020, gifting her with a hologram of her late father, Robert Kardashian. The attorney died of esophageal cancer in 2003, just two months after he was first diagnosed. He was 59 years old.
In video Kim shared on Twitter, the hologram of her late father marvels at how much she has accomplished over her life, praising her for her dedication as a mother and for continuing his legacy with her ambitions of being a lawyer. And, because the gift was from Kanye, the hologram also hilariously notes, "You married the most, most, most, most, most genius man in the whole world, Kanye West."
Kim called the gesture the "most thoughtful gift of a lifetime."
"A special surprise from heaven. A hologram of my dad," she tweeted. "It is so lifelike! We watched it over and over, filled with emotion."
"I can't even describe what this meant to me and my sisters, my brother, my mom and closest friends to experience together," she added. "Thank you so much Kanye for this memory that will last a lifetime."
When he gave her five Maybachs for Christmas:
Although a source told ET that Kim reached her breaking point with their marriage in July 2020 -- when she visited him at their Wyoming ranch after his controversial political rally in South Carolina and his subsequent Twitter claims that she and her mom, Kris Jenner, were trying to "lock [him] up -- it didn't stop him from showering her with a beyond lavish Christmas gift last year. ET learned that Kanye gave Kim five 2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600s, while she bought him several art pieces by James Turrell. Just one of the luxury cars retails for almost $200,000, so the gift is worth an estimated $1 million.
On Friday, a source told ET that Kim has filed for divorce from Kanye and is asking for joint legal and physical custody of their four children -- North, 7, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and Psalm, 1. The source added that Kanye is fine with the joint custody agreement and the two are committed to co-parenting together.
The source also noted there is a prenup between them, and neither Kim nor Kanye is planning to contest it. According to the source, they are already in the process of reaching a property settlement agreement.
Meanwhile, a second source told ET that their children remain their number one priority.
"Kim filing for divorce from Kanye is just a formal part of the process, the source said. "The couple has been done for a while and have been amicable for a while. At the end of the day, Kanye and Kim love each other immensely but knew it was time to call it quits. Their children are their number one priority and no matter what will maintain a positive relationship for them."
RELATED CONTENT:
