Here's How Old Kylie Jenner Was When She Dated Tyga
For a hot minute, it looked like Kylie Jenner's half-brother, Rob Kardashian, was going to become the stepfather of her ex-boyfriend's son. This would have made for some must-see TV and a twisted family tree that Maury Povich once would have sorted out with glee. But we'll break it all down with less hair-pulling.
Before Jenner dated Tyga, the "Taste" rapper had a long-term relationship with model Blac Chyna, who played Nicki Minaj's body double in the "Monster" music video, per Paper. Chyna appeared alongside another entertainer who would help the Kardashian clan continue to expand: Kim Kardashian's ex, Kanye West. Chyna and Tyga welcomed their son, King Cairo, in 2012. When Chyna became a mom for the second time, it was with Rob Kardashian. The pair got engaged in April 2016, and their daughter Dream was born that April. Momager Kris Jenner told E! she was in the delivery room to welcome her sixth grandchild, so she and Chyna had to at least be on amicable terms at the time of the birth. However, Chyna's relationship with the Kardashians hit a rough patch on more than one occasion, especially after Tyga started dating Kylie.
On an episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," Kim revealed that she ended her friendship with a heartbroken Chyna to show loyalty to Kylie, per Seventeen. Kyga's relationship also sparked a battle between Team Kardashian and Team Chyna over whether Kylie was old enough to be dating Tyga.
Kylie Jenner was 17 when she started dating Tyga
When Kylie Jenner celebrated her 17th birthday in 2014, Tyga was filmed encouraging her to take a tequila shot. Per TMZ, footage of the interaction doesn't show the then-teen taking him up on his illegal offer. Two months later, Jenner and Tyga, who was 24 at the time, raised eyebrows again when they were spotted getting flirty during a dinner outing. An insider told E! that their romance was already multiple months old by then.
Chyna's bestie, Amber Rose, weighed in on the "Kyga" rumors when she was interviewed by "The Breakfast Club" in February 2015. She said of Jenner, "She's a baby. She needs to go to bed at 7 o'clock." Days later, Rose's ex, Kanye West, shared a different opinion during his own appearance on "The Breakfast Club," saying, "I think [Tyga] got in early. I think he was smart. ... They're closer in age than a lot of relationships that I know."
Two months later, Jenner was still 17 years old — and Tyga had her name inked on his inner arm, per TMZ. Instead of denying that anything was happening between her underage half-sibling and the rapper, Khloé Kardashian decided to defend their relationship in her interview for Complex magazine's August/September 2015 issue. "Kylie is not a normal 17-year-old," she argued. "Kylie is taking business meetings and bought her first house ... It's a rare circumstance, so let's treat this as a special case."
Age played a part in the couple's breakup
Kylie Jenner appeared in Tyga's music videos for "Stimulated" and "Dope'd Up," and the rapper mentioned her by name in his 2017 song "Feel Me," which features Kanye West. But in April of that year, the two called it quits. In "Life of Kylie," Jenner revealed their split was amicable. Per People, she also confessed her age did end up mattering after all. "I decided that I'm really young," she said. "I don't want to look back in five years from now and feel like he took something from me when he's really not that type of person."
As for Tyga, he agreed that the 7-year age gap became an issue. But in his view, the backlash to his relationship with Jenner is what really bothered her. "I'm older, so I can deal with perception. ... But for her, growing up how she grew up, image and perception was everything," he said on "The Breakfast Club." Although he was cool with generating buzz for his music by using Jenner's name and image, Tyga revealed he wasn't entirely comfortable with his ex using her own image to promote herself on social media. "I like to keep a mystique," he explained. According to the rapper, he even worked behind the scenes to help Jenner build her cosmetics empire. On "Queen Radio" (via Us Weekly), Tyga claimed that she owes him credit for naming some of her popular lip kits.