Julia Fox revealed the one silver lining that she took from her former relationship with ex-boyfriend Kanye “Ye” West. While speaking with Jon Caramanica on The New York Times’ “Popcast” on Wednesday, June 5, the Uncut Gems actress, 34, acknowledged that she has “fully wrestled back total control of [her] image” after dating the “Stronger” rapper, 46.
“You know, it was actually a blessing that he came into my life,” Julia said, adding, “because he kind of shook up my team in a way where a lot of the creative control was then given back to me. Whereas I feel like for a couple of years there, I would still feel this pressure to pretend to be this Hollywood starlet that I, like, wasn’t.”
The model recalled arguing with her team about her public image, noting that she’d “be really upset” when she wasn’t heard.
“I’d get into fights about it and be really upset about it, but then ultimately always concede and just do what they wanted me to do because it was easier than arguing,” Julia continued. “So then after that, [Ye] came in and was like, ‘Wait a minute, no, f**k that, I’m gonna do what I wanna do.'”
Since Ye and Julia’s relationship didn’t go the distance, she revealed what happened once they broke up.
“But then when he left, it was like, ‘Well, I’m gonna do what I wanna do,’ you know?” Julia added. “I kind of felt like, ‘Oh my god, the world is my oyster.’ I’m my own muse.”
Although Ye helped open up more doors for her, Julia acknowledged the online banter over the attention she was receiving, attributing it to her past romance with the Grammy winner.
“And then I started to hear this whole thing. ‘She’s only killing it in fashion because it’s Kanye, it’s Kanye,'” Julia pointed out. “And I was like, ‘No, these are my looks, and I’m putting them together.’ So, I felt like that was what I needed to push against, and prove that I’m doing this, and I wasn’t doing it before because my team just wanted me to look basic.”
Julia and Ye briefly dated in 2022. The following year, she opened up about their short-term relationship in her memoir, Down the Drain.