Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet are apparently dating and, for many reasons, people are struggling to come to terms with it.
At 25 and 27 years old, respectively, Kylie and Timmy are two of the most famous twentysomethings on the planet. Though it goes without saying that they exist in fairly different spheres of the pop culture universe.
Kylie got her start as a child on reality TV and later made a name for herself in the cosmetics industry, so fans have found it hard to grasp that she would have ever had reason to be in the same room as the theater kid turned Oscar nominee, whose flourishing career seems to exist within the realms of movie sets and Greta Gerwig scripts.
Where Kylie’s Instagram page is polished and perfected, Timothée’s grid is dotted with cracked iPhones and poorly cropped selfies — chic nonetheless, but undeniably disparate. Which is why people are so deeply confused by the mounting reports that these two might just be Hollywood’s next hottest couple.
However, as a die-hard Kardashian fan and a self-confessed Chalamet obsessive, I’m here to present the argument that there might just be more than meets the eye when it comes to this pairing. So, let’s break it down.
Let’s begin by rewinding to April 6, when rumors of this unlikely duo were sparked by an anonymous submission to celebrity gossip account Deux Moi, claiming that “Timmy C has a new girl…Kylie Jenner.”
This prompted a number of follow-ups from other anonymous tipsters who confidently backed the rumors, with one alleging that they’d even spent time with the two in Aspen around New Year’s Eve.
For some added context, it was announced in January that Kylie and her long-term on-again, off-again boyfriend, Travis Scott, ended their relationship sometime in December.
Kylie and Travis were reportedly meant to spend the holidays together in Aspen with their two kids, Stormi and Aire. However, after their split, Kylie wound up going with a group of girlfriends instead, partying with the likes of Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner.
Based on a number of photographs he took with fans, it also appears that Timmy spent time in Aspen over New Year too — bolstering rumors that he and Kylie might have hung out together while they were there.
On top of this, others who submitted tips to Deux Moi claimed that the two had been seeing each other openly since at least Paris Fashion Week, which took place in January — several weeks after they potentially crossed paths in Aspen.
Still in shock and hunting for clues, fans uncovered a resurfaced video from Paris Fashion Week in which Kylie and Timmy can be seen having a cozy chat as they pass one another at a show — which serves as the first piece of solid evidence to prove that they’ve actually met.
A week after Deux Moi set the internet ablaze, TMZ added fuel to the fire by publishing photographs that appeared to show Kylie’s Range Rover in the driveway of Timmy’s Beverly Hills home.
The very next day, reports surfaced that the pair also met up for a secret taco date, apparently going to extremes “to keep their rendezvous on the down low” as they ate together in the back of Kylie’s SUV.
Around the same time, People shared the first official reports that Kylie and Timmy were “hanging out and getting to know each other,” which only bolstered expectations that they might make their official debut at Coachella over the weekend.
Ultimately, this was not to be. However, we did get another batch of reports alleging that they are enjoying a “casual” but “fun” romance.
“They are keeping things casual at this point. It’s not serious, but Kylie is enjoying hanging out with Timothée and seeing where it goes,” an insider told Entertainment Tonight on Monday.
They added that it’s been “really fun” for Kylie, and that her blossoming fling with the Dune actor feels “a lot different than her past relationships.”
And so, with all the signs pointing toward the very real possibility of a romance between the two stars, fans rallied on Twitter to share their amusement and disbelief. But this pairing isn't quite as random as people seem to think.
kylie jenner and timothee chalamet dating feels the same as when two people from your high school that never interacted start dating like 6 years after graduation
First of all, Hollywood is a small and clique-y place. And Timmy might not be posting selfies with the Kardashians or making cameos on their show, but it’s no secret that he’s existed in their orbit for some time.
Way back in 2019, Timothée memorably forged himself a spot in the Kimye history books after attending a now-infamous dinner party at Nobu Malibu with Kid Cudi, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and Pete Davidson. (In case you forgot, Kanye would eventually use this dinner as leverage against Pete when he started dating Kim years later.)
The extent to which Timmy bonded with Kim and Ye obviously remains a mystery, but as any Kardashian fan will know, Nobu Malibu is one of the family’s favorite spots to dine, so it’s not far-fetched to speculate that he and Kylie might have also crossed paths over a plate of Yellowtail sashimi at one time.
In fact, one anonymous source suggested to Deux Moi earlier this month that the pair were actually introduced at the popular restaurant sometime in 2019 by none other than Kid Cudi, who also happens to be very close friends with Travis. (It’s worth noting that there appears to be no other evidence to suggest this version of events is accurate.)
And that wasn’t Timmy’s only KarJenner dinner party. In March, Page Six claimed that the Oscar nominee joined Kendall and Kylie for dinner in West Hollywood, where he mingled with the likes of Zack Bia, Russell Westbrook, and Kendall’s rumored beau, Bad Bunny.
Since this, Entertainment Tonight has also reported that Kendall and Timmy were actually already in the same friendship circle, meaning that “it’s been easy for Kylie to integrate him into her life” since things apparently turned romantic.
However, fans are still questioning whether Timmy and Kylie would have any interest in dating each other, since their approach to fame couldn’t be more different. His entrance into A-list life was so unpretentious that he once spoke on a talk show about being “paparazzied,” while she's one of the most visible, followed, and recognizable people on the planet.
But one look at his previous partners reveals that Timmy has a history of dating people who've grown up in the spotlight, like Lily-Rose Depp and Lourdes Leon — which actually makes Kylie a pretty logical candidate.
On a similar note, people also seem to be having a tough time comprehending that Kylie and Timothée would even have anything in common, with one writer joking on Twitter that she might think Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar “is just a good name for her lip kit.”
I bet Kylie never even seen Lady Bird, I bet she thinks Little Women is just a reality tv show on lifetime, I bet she doesn’t even know what the Young Arts competition is, I bet she thinks interstellar is just a good name for her lip kit, I bet Dune just means the beach to her—
And yes, while Kylie may not have been the first to watch Beautiful Boy or The French Dispatch, it’s still worth noting that she and Timothée definitely have a lot in common when it comes to fashion — hence their Paris crossover at the start of the year.
Since the early days of his career, Timmy has solidified his status as a rising star of the red carpet, notably leaning toward designs by the likes of Haider Ackermann, Loewe, and Louis Vuitton.
Likewise, Kylie has pivoted toward the world of high fashion in recent years, becoming a familiar face on the fashion week circuit and star-studded front rows.
It’s also interesting to note that they both also had close relationships with Virgil Abloh, the former creative director of Louis Vuitton, who died in November 2021.
Another thing I’ve failed to mention so far, which is of great importance when it comes to KarJenner relationships, is of course, the Met Gala.
Kylie and Timmy have both historically attended the event. However, they’ve never actually never been there at the same time, with Kylie sitting out the year that Timothée served as a cochair for the event in 2021.
Nonetheless, with the 2023 Met Gala less than two weeks away, there’s every possibility that we might get our first glimpse at the reported couple if they’re both in attendance — but we’ll have to wait and see.
Obviously, we’re still waiting on confirmation that the relationship is actually legit, but just like the Kim and Petes, Kourtney and Travises, and MGK and Megans who came before them, you may just have to see it to believe it.
