Kanye West is “clearly hurting” and his romance with actress Julia Fox is “a ploy to get under ex Kim Kardashian’s skin,” sources say.
West’s whirlwind affair with New York cool girl Fox was sparked by Kardashian’s relationship with “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson, sources exclusively claim to Page Six.
“It’s a desperate play for attention. There’s no other explanation when he chooses … [Fox] to go public with,” one source said.
Another source insisted West is in pain after Kardashian moved on with Davidson. The rapper has called for his ex to “run back to” him, even while he has still stepped out with a series of models.
“He publicly fights for his family back, and then he’s linked to all these different girls. It’s very strange,” the source said.
West and the “Uncut Gems” star Fox were first snapped by the rapper’s own photographer on dates in Miami and New York early this month.
Then, in a steamy performance-art photo shoot, for Interview, Fox said they had an “instant connection” after meeting on New Year’s Eve and gushed about West surprising her with a hotel suite full of clothes for a date night.
“It was every girl’s dream come true. It felt like a real Cinderella moment,” Fox wrote. “I don’t know how he did it, or how he got all of it there in time… Like, who does things like this on a second date? Or any date!”
Multiple insiders described it as a throwback to the beginning of “Kimye,” when fashion insider West transformed — and often styled — Kardashian.
Ironically, Fox has described herself as a “die-hard, OG fan” of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”
On the Dec. 17 episode of her “Forbidden Fruits” podcast she said, “I wanted them to be my family… You feel like you know them.”
Reps for West and Kardashian did not comment.
Fox has not responded to multiple requests for comment, but she told Interview: “I don’t know where things are headed, but if this is any indication of the future, I’m loving the ride.”