A Brief History of Julia Fox’s Dating Life Before She Swore Off Men

Though Julia Fox is currently prioritizing acting and motherhood, the Uncut Gems actress is equally well-known for her star-studded dating history that includes rapper and fashion mogul Kanye West. Fox later told InStyle that the short-lived romance left a “sour taste in my mouth.”

“I don’t ever want to just be known as someone’s girlfriend,” she said. “I know I’m so much more than that. And I feel like that happens so much to women in this industry. They’re only as good as their partner or they can make a whole career off being some guy’s partner.”

To her credit, Fox’s reputation isn’t built on past partners so much as on her eccentric style, her podcasting skills (she’s the co-host of “Forbidden Fruits“), and her willingness to break pretty much every rule in the business. The Milan-born model has also played the all-important role of mom since the arrival of her son, Valentino, in 2021.

Nowadays, of course, the actress is famously “done with men,” as she told Marie Claire on the publication’s podcast, “Nice Talk” in 2024. She called her newfound celibacy a form of “subtle rebellion” following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2021.

“Why would I lay down with someone who won’t stand up for me? These men, they’re not mad,” Fox said. “I’m not saying all men support the ban on abortion, but most men aren’t really saying anything about it. And I just feel like fuck that.”

In the unlikely event that Fox gives dating another go, the model offered Drew Barrymore a laundry list of what a hypothetical man would need to do in order to win her heart. The requirements included “someone who is okay with seeing me once a week for a two-hour window” and someone “with a driving force in their life that isn’t me.”

Ahead, the dating history of the woman who once said, “I want to just stand on my own two feet and not need a man to back me”—the one and only Julia Fox.

Peter Artemiev (2018—2020)

After just one month of dating, Fox married her future baby daddy Peter Artemiev in November 2018. The whirlwind romance was over two years later when the duo parted ways in 2020. The Uncut Gems actress later described the nuptials on an episode of her “Forbidden Fruits” podcast.

“At the Little White Wedding Chapel [in Las Vegas], nobody knew, I was dressed like a cowgirl,” she said. “And [Artemiev] wore cowboy boots, we looked so fucking cute. We were so in love. I literally dreamed him up and manifested him, like as a city girl from Manhattan, I always wanted to date a Russian guy from Coney Island.”

The marriage ended when Artemiev filed for divorce in February; by July, the paperwork was finalized. The couple continued to see each other periodically, however. They welcomed a son, Valentino, on January 17, 2021.

Fox celebrated the arrival of her firstborn but later took to Instagram to criticize Artemiev’s parenting skills (or rather, lack thereof). “I wanted to scare him into being a better dad, but I went about it the wrong way,” she later said in an interview with The Cut. “My son’s dad loves his son more than anything in the world. He just has some issues that I shouldn’t have made public.”

Drake (2021)

Following her divorce from Artemiev, Fox had a (rumored) fling with Canadian rapper Drake. The duo weren’t exactly boyfriend-girlfriend material, though.

“Like, I wouldn’t say that we were dating,” Fox said on an episode of “Forbidden Fruits.” “[Drake is] a great guy and a gentleman and that was it. Nothing really happened. We were just, like, friends hanging out.”

In 2023, Fox cheekily referenced her ex during an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. When asked about “the best celebrity date she’s ever been on,” the actress replied, “Being on a private jet, cuddled on the jet, landed, got some Chanel bags,” adding, “It was great, yeah.”

Cohen predictably wanted to know who, exactly, she was talking about, but Fox said, “I can’t say. I really can’t say…obviously an A-lister.” During the After Show, however, Drake’s name was specifically mentioned. Was it him? “Maybe,” she said. “Shouldn’t have given me that shot.”

Kanye West (2022)

Rumors of a romance between Fox and Kanye West first made headlines when the duo were spotted on a date at Carbone in New York City on January 1, 2022. A source later told US Weekly that the pair were “having fun” and that West “wanted to get to know her better” after they met via mutual friends.

West, meanwhile, was caught up in divorce proceedings with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. The split was finalized in November of that year. Fox offered her two cents on the budding romance during an episode of her “Forbidden Fruits” podcast.

“I feel like, to the people who know us both personally, like, all the people that we have in common, like, friends in common, have texted me like, ‘Oh, my God, this makes so much sense,’” she said.

The short-lived relationship fizzled out two months after the couple’s first date. Fox later explained that she simply didn’t have time for the drama now that she is a mother.

“It just seems like he had a lot to work on, and I just don’t have time for it or energy,” she said. “I don’t have the bandwidth or emotional capacity for it. I’m proud of myself for that. [Before having my son, Valentino, I] would have definitely stuck it out and been there for longer…And I tapped out at the first sign of a red flag,” she added.

Fox later elaborated on those red flags in her memoir, Down the Drain, claiming that West tried to control her wardrobe and wanted to pay for her to get a boob job.

“We do as we’re told and awkwardly throw our arms up and scream for joy as he stands off in the background, looking on with pride,” she wrote. “As we pose like puppets, I question his true intentions, feeling that this grand gesture is nothing more than a publicity stunt.”