Julia Fox’s memoir takes readers Down the Drain with her through her early work as a dominatrix and her 2019 breakout role in Uncut Gems. The book, out now, concludes with a chapter of her life many are familiar with, at least as spectators: her relationship with Ye. While Ye is never named in the memoir and is referred to only as “the artist,” Fox provides ample details that leave no doubt she is referring to her time with the controversial pop-culture figure, and they are … illuminating.
While Fox’s short relationship with Ye dominated both tabloids and the internet discourse, its mystery was part of the intrigue. Paparazzi snaps and photo shoots like the one that appeared in Interview magazine depicted the pair as a fashion-forward power couple. By her own account, however, Fox’s relationship with Ye was awkward, frustrating, and, she now suspects, a one-sided publicity stunt involving Birkins, unsolicited boob-job offers, and, like seemingly everyone else in Hollywood, playing Uno. Below, some notable moments Fox shared about their relationship:
Ye initiated the relationship
“I get a text from an old friend asking if he can pass my number along to a famous artist who’s been asking about me,” Fox writes. “I don’t think much of it at first. I’ve hooked up with celebrities before and I already know they’re only after one thing.”
However, this introduction resulted in texts and hourslong phone calls between the pair, culminating in a New Year’s Eve meetup in Miami that turned into a dayslong visit capped by dinner at Carbone.
“He very bluntly asks me, ‘Would you want to be my girlfriend?’” Fox writes. “I instantly burst out laughing. He can’t be serious. A photographer circles the table, snapping candid photos of us midsentence. He follows up with: ‘How would you feel about taking our relationship public?’”
A different version of this story appeared in Interview magazine. While Fox says she submitted a “detailed paragraph recounting step by step how we met,” Ye sent back “a completely new version that sounds nothing like me and is completely fabricated.” On a three-way call with one of his assistants, they eventually landed on a version in the middle that later appeared in the magazine. “But the seed of doubt had been planted in my mind, and I can’t shake the feeling,” Fox writes.
One of their first dates was playing Uno
After their New Year’s Eve meeting, Fox says she woke up to “dozens of missed calls and texts” from Ye. He invites her to his room, where they “spend the day playing Uno and a game that involves highlighting positive words in the dictionary and coming to the realization that there aren’t many.” Steamy!
Ye is very particular about his restaurant tables
During their first dinner date at Carbone, Ye reportedly asked for more candles for the table, “rearranging them, creating a half-moon around the perimeter of the table.” He then, Fox writes, after removing the extra glasses and silverware, moved the entire table “three feet to the right so we can get a better view of the slab of concrete on the side of the building.” Here is what appears to be the slab of concrete on the side of the building.
Ye loves Zola
After dinner at Carbone with concrete, they head back to Ye’s hotel and Fox puts on A24’s Zola, starring Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, and Colman Domingo. Ye apparently “falls in love with it,” which prompts him to book himself and Fox tickets to Slave Play (in New York City), also written by Jeremy O. Harris, whom Fox then introduces to Ye via text.
Ye dictated Fox’s wardrobe
This isn’t surprising to Kardashian fans, who saw Ye’s influence on ex-wife Kim’s fashion over the years. With Fox, he was particularly aggressive, going so far as to covertly call in one of her stylists in the middle of a date to give her new outfit options because he didn’t like what Fox was wearing (if you can believe it, this anecdote also takes place at Carbone).
Fox’s stylists were her two friends, Tammy and Liana, whom Ye hired after she showed him their work. When the pair split, Tammy and Liana continued working for Ye, going on to style his next girlfriend. Eventually, this created a rift in their friendships. While Liana quit working for Ye after a discussion with Fox, Tammy continued.
“I block her number,” Fox writes. “I can’t accept that my friend of ten years would choose him over me … for clout.”
Ye offered to get Fox a boob job
During the photo shoot that would go on to appear in Interview magazine, Fox says she remarked that she couldn’t wear one of the the outfits because “it’s not quite right.” In response, Fox says Ye offered to get her a boob job.
“The artist’s words cut through the air, sharp and unexpected,” she writes. “I look at myself in the mirror, taking in my post-baby body. They’re not so bad, I think to myself.”
Fox refused the boob job but says Ye’s offer “sticks to me like a piece of lint on my clothes, and I can’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling.”
It was Fox’s dinner with Madonna — not Ye’s
While Ye and Fox’s January 2022 dinner with Madonna was portrayed in the media as Ye introducing Fox to his friends, Fox writes that it was she who had plans with Madonna — and Ye tagged along.
“He accompanies me to a dinner I had previously planned with Madonna,” she writes. “He introduces me to everyone as his new girlfriend.”
Ye showed affection only when the camera was on
As their relationship progressed, Fox began to suspect that she was more prop than partner. “The only time he engages is when the camera is on us,” she writes, “when he will grab me and kiss me passionately.” Many of her significant moments with Ye were documented by his personal photographers, and in at least one instance, Ye had Fox and her friends re-create their reaction to his gifting them Birkin bags multiple times so the cameras could get the best shot.
“As we post like puppets, I question his true intentions, feeling that this grand gesture is nothing more than a publicity stunt,” she writes. “I’m disconnected from the moment. I try to find gratitude for the lavish gifts, but the feeling of insincerity lingers.”
Their breakup cost her a million-dollar deal
Early on in their relationship, Ye promised Fox a “million-dollar deal” with an Italian denim company and negotiated it on her behalf. However, following their split — which happened over the phone, reportedly initiated by Fox but intensified by Ye saying he spoke with his “ex-wife,” who shared information about Fox being a former drug addict — the deal was dropped.
“‘It’s contingent on you being his girlfriend,’ I’m informed,” she writes. Previously, Fox says she lost a commercial job with the production company citing “ties with the artist’s estranged wife.” Luckily for Fox, however, she refused to sign Ye’s NDA, giving her clearance to cash out on all these stories in a book.
