The Truth About Kim Kardashian And Nick Cannon's Relationship

The fact that Kim Kardashian and Nick Cannon dated seems like an old Hollywood folktale, but it's very much real. Although they were together in the middle aughts, each was in a very different place in their lives back then. Kardashian was just getting her start in the industry, and Cannon had more name recognition for his acting and musical pursuits. 

He talked about first meeting Kardashian on his 2016 mixtape, "The Gospel Of Ike Turn Up: My Side Of The Story." On it, he raps: "Met Ray J's stylist, she was smilin' and creepin' / She was bout it, I was bout it, now let's go get pizza / Kim was the flyest chick / I get why Kanye be wylin' and tweakin'." On Genius, Cannon broke down the meaning behind the lyrics: "We were on the set of 'Moesha' and Ray J was with Kim Kardashian — and Kim was the stylist. I was like, 'Who's the stylist with all the ass?'"

Keep reading to see how the relationship between Kim Kardashian and Nick Cannon played out.

Although Nick Cannon was interested in fellow singer Brandy at the time, he recalls, he asked Kim Kardashian out to eat and even helped the reality star land her first magazine cover, on Complex. In that 2007 Complex interview, Kardashian denied having a relationship with Cannon. "Hmm. I'm gonna have to get back to you on that one," she told the interviewer. 

She explained that she and then-bestie Paris Hilton were trying to stay single for a year. "I'm a relationship kind of girl, but I think that everyone needs a year in their life to be single," Kardashian said. "I was in a long relationship before I was married, then I was married for four years, and then I was in a relationship with Ray J, Brandy's brother. I've never been single, and this is my year. It's hard when you meet really cool, talented, amazing, fun people like Nick."

However, the general consensus is that the two were seeing each other from sometime in 2006 to 2007. 

In 2014, Nick Cannon confirmed to radio host Big Boy that he'd dated Kim Kardashian. When Big Boy said he hadn't known, Cannon replied (per Page Six), "You just forgot because it's been a lot of people since me. She's a great girl though! Her and her family are some of the most incredible people I've ever met in my life."

Cannon also claimed he was "almost 100% sure" that he introduced Kardashian to her future husband, Kanye West. "Me, Kim, and Paris Hilton went to a club in New York," Cannon told DJ Vlad. "Kanye came to my table and I was like, 'Yo, meet my chick, Kim.'"

West later addressed Cannon for continuing to bring up dating Kardashian in the press. "I understand that you used to date my wife, but in an interview, don't mention my wife," he said (per TMZ). "If someone else brings my wife up, say 'I respect that man, I'm not speaking on that.'" 

Everyone knows that Kim Kardashian's fame skyrocketed following the release of her sex tape with Ray J. According to Nick Cannon, her dishonesty about the tape led to their split. "This was my issue," Cannon told Howard Stern in 2012 (per the Daily Mail). "We talked about this tape ... And she told me there was no tape." He explained that, if Kardashian had been honest with him, he might have supported her. "But the fact that she lied and told me that there was no tape?" he said. "And I still think she might have even had a part to play with [its release]."

Kardashian has always maintained that the tape was released without her consent, possibly as a revenge tactic by her ex or someone associated with him. Regardless, it seems the racy tape was the final nail in the coffin of Cannon and Kardashian's brief romance.