Kim and Kanye have been showcasing their new beaus at a rate even MGK and Megan Fox are jealous of. For Kim, her timeline with Pete Davidson kicked off late October after her SNL appearance, while Kanye’s relationship with Julia is fresher than a new year babe — about a week and a half old.

Either way, both relationships feel one part lust, one part fun… and one part PR.

Throughout the fall and winter, I truly believe that Kim was putting everything she absorbed at the Kris Jenner School of PR to work as she led a press tour to promote The Kardashians and SKIMS, and offset any headlines about Astroworld, Kanye, and Kylie (possibly) giving birth. A last cherry on top? I’m convinced Kim’s used this time to craft a more youthful, chill image of herself with the help of Pete’s company and her more casual looks.

For Kanye, I’m sure he’s leveraging Julia’s glowing review of him in Interview to precede his January project drops with some positive news, and to overshadow his questionable political connections.

And I know there’s an argument that the Kim/Pete/Kanye/Julia buzz could all be purely organic. But I’ll put it simply: Kylie hid the entirety of her first pregnancy. A.k.a., if Kim or Kanye wanted to hide something, they’d keep it locked up in a Calabasas compound that’s DeuxMoi fool-proofed. On the flip side, it also means that if they want something publicly known, they’ll carefully craft when, where, and how it appears. And that's exactly what is happening. Let’s break it down.

Kim’s Fall: Astroworld, Kete Galore, SKIMS

The news that Kim and Pete (Kete) were pretty much a couple quickly overtook the Astroworld tragedy headlines early November. Sure, the Kardashians were accused of using Kete as a distraction from the controversy surrounding Travis Scott and Kylie, but that was quickly forgotten when the pop culture world was fed some “Kete in Kalifornia” content.

Most people didn’t realize that the LA/Palm Springs leg of Kete’s press tour November 17-28 conveniently lined up to be the same week as the Astroworld: Concert From Hell release (which has since been pulled from Hulu). And this California press gave us more than enough to talk about — from Pete hanging out at Kris’ Palm Springs house for his birthday to him and Kim holding hands. Underlying both? Some *subtle* SKIMS product placement that not a single fan seemed to miss… conveniently, the same month as the SKIMS and Fendi collab dropped.

Let’s pause there. Do you recall the big SKIMS promo from September? It was dripping-in-sex-appeal it-girls of the moment, Kourtney and Megan. The November walking billboard just happened to be the BDE it-boy of the moment… there’s definitely a theme.

The second thing I’ll pause on here is Kim’s style with Pete. Especially during this California leg, Kim was fairly dressed down in sweats, PJs, and bodysuits in most of the more popular images. To me, this feeds into Kim wanting to craft a lighter, more laid-back persona following the Kanye divorce and heavy press focus on her law career. Kete is a breath of fresh air, bringing out Kim’s young, flirty, and sexy side. Think about it — this positive, light Kim is the one we loved to watch on KUWTK, and the type of energy we’d die to see on The Kardashians (versus a heavy-hearted serious Kim shuffling through law books and divorce papers).

Kanye’s Winter: Neighbors, "Date Night," The Kushners, Yeezy Collabs, Netflix Doc

Kanye’s whirlwind romance with Julia Fox went from being spotted together in Miami to Julia penning an essay about their NYC date just days later for Interview. She detailed his fun energy, his creativity in planning a photoshoot for her at Carbone, and his generosity for surprising her with a suite full of clothes. A “Cinderella moment,” as she put it.

There’s two things we need to consider. First, Kanye had multiple public outbursts throughout November and December, which included him conveying how much he wanted Kim back on a podcast and in his Thanksgiving Prayer video. Second, that Kanye dined with Jared Kushner the same day as Julia’s article dropped.

What I’m saying: 2022 feels like Kanye hit the reset button on the PR strategy machine. Rather than letting his controversial political views or narrative about Kim occupy headlines, his team is making him look (a) thoughtful and caring with the Julia of it all; (b) like a family man because he bought a house lot across from Kim.

And it’s not all about building a more charismatic image for the hell of it. It’s also because Kanye had two really important drops early January: the Yeezy Gap collab with Balenciaga announcement on January 7, and the trailer for his Netflix documentary jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.

Kim’s Winter: Miley Unfollowed, ‘The Kardashians,' The Bahamas, And Did Kylie Give Birth?

Following Miley’s NYE special co-hosted by Pete, Kim reportedly unfollowed Miley on Instagram. Did she hope to do this on the DL? Unlikely. Did she do it knowing people would notice? Almost definitely. But why? I’m guessing not because she’s truly jealous of any connection between Pete and Miley, but more so to continue some headline momentum from The Kardashians, which dropped its first promo on New Year's Eve.

This was also around the time that the family was sharing more and more photos of their annual "Kristmas" party. Eagle-eyed fans clued in that Kylie was missing from the festivities on December 24 and therefore probably had given birth.

If we look to Kylie's last pregnancy, she may be keeping her status underwraps rather than be a subject of speculation. And her big sis came to the rescue: the rumors that she had given birth were quickly flattened under the sound of Kim and Pete’s Bahama’s trip on January 5… which may I point out, feature Kim in yet again a more dressed down look.

So at the end of the day, Kim and Kanye are both playing the same PR game for the same reasons: image, public distraction, and to promote their projects… and there’s nothing wrong with that. All I’m saying is when it comes to these two, where there’s Yeezy footprints and SKIMS shapewear, there’s usually a two parts orchestration for every one part organicness of the situation. Something to keep in mind…

Images: Kim Kardashian/Instagram