How Drake, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian became entangled in a messy 2018 feud

• Drake reportedly believed West had revealed his secret child's existence to rapper Pusha-T
• West alleged on Twitter that Drake sought to sample his music and bought front-row seats at a Pusha-T show in Toronto
• Kim Kardashian publicly defended West in 2018, warning Drake never to threaten her husband or their family
  

Drake is currently riding a wave of success on the back of new album releases, Kanye West is revelling in a high-profile return to mainstream music, and Kim Kardashian continues to expand her business empire.

Though all three are now operating in separate spheres, there was a period when they were all caught up in a deeply complicated and very public dispute.

How the 2018 feud erupted

The year was 2018, and the long-simmering tension between West and Drake finally boiled over. The immediate catalyst was Drake's diss aimed at West on French Montana's track No Stylist.

However, the animosity between the two rap heavyweights had been building for some time beforehand.

Drake reportedly believed that West had disclosed the existence of his secret child to fellow rapper Pusha-T.

Pusha-T subsequently referenced this in his Drake-focused diss track The Story of Adidon. West denied any involvement, but the ill feeling between the pair endured.

West took the dispute to Twitter

In the wake of the No Stylist track, West escalated the conflict by taking to Twitter. In a series of posts, the Grammy-winning artist alleged that Drake had approached him seeking permission to sample his music, a request West claimed he turned down.

West did not stop there. He went on to allege that Drake had purchased all the front-row seats at a Pusha-T concert in Toronto — at a time when Drake and Pusha-T were themselves embroiled in a feud. A violent incident broke out at that event, leaving one audience member critically injured.

In a follow-up post, West also claimed that Drake had threatened him during a phone call.

Kim Kardashian intervenes with a pointed tweet

With alleged threats against West's family now in the picture, his then-wife Kim Kardashian stepped into the dispute. In a pointed and widely shared tweet, she made her position unmistakably clear.

"Never threaten my husband or our family. He paved the way for there to be a Drake," she wrote.

A lot has changed by 2026

Although the chaos unfolded in 2018, the landscape has shifted considerably since then. With Drake's ambitious three-album release strategy now making waves, West reportedly offered a brief word of public support for his one-time rival — a notable sign of how far the relationship between the two artists has come.