Jonathan Cheban, the reality TV personality who now goes by FoodGod, and Larsa Pippen attended the same L'Agence fashion presentation at the New York Public Library on Wednesday evening, an appearance that drew renewed attention to the yearslong estrangement between Pippen and Kim Kardashian.
Cheban has been a close friend of Kardashian for more than a decade; Pippen was also part of that social circle before publicly falling out with the Kardashian family in 2020. At the New York event, Cheban was accompanied by his mother, Galina Cheban, while Pippen attended with her boyfriend, professional basketball player Jeff Coby. Photographs from the presentation show Cheban wearing a denim jacket emblazoned with "FG," a reference to his FoodGod brand, and black leather trousers. Pippen wore a sheer pale blue gown and carried a blue Christian Dior purse; Galina Cheban and Coby were both photographed wearing all-black ensembles.
Media accounts of the encounter noted the optics because of the long-running public tension between Kardashian and Pippen. The two former friends stopped publicly interacting on social media in April 2020, when Kardashian and her sisters unfollowed Pippen on Instagram. Pippen later attributed the rupture in part to Kardashian's then-husband, Kanye West, saying on a 2020 podcast that West had "brainwashed the whole family"—comments the Kardashian camp described as attention-seeking. Pippen has also said she was prepared to move on if the family preferred to be without her.
Since the split, both sides have at times signaled reconciliation. In January 2022, Pippen told Us Weekly that she and Kardashian had "apologized" to each other and were "in a really good place." Pippen also has described the episode as amplified by public scrutiny, saying disagreements among friends are common but become magnified because of their visibility.
The renewed focus on the rapport among Kardashian, Pippen and their mutual acquaintances has appeared intermittently in popular culture coverage. In May, host Andy Cohen raised the subject on his talk show when La La Anthony, a friend of Kardashian, was a guest; Cohen asked whether Anthony still saw Pippen, an exchange that prompted Anthony to call the line of questioning "messy." Anthony said she had not seen Pippen in about a year and noted that Pippen lives in Miami while Kardashian resides in Hidden Hills, California.
Pippen has addressed the breakup of the friendship across interviews and reality-television appearances, including on The Real Housewives of Miami in 2021, where she said she was "living my best life" and would do so "unapologetically." Media reports at the time suggested the Kardashians viewed Pippen as having "toxic energy," while other outlets said the parties had simply grown apart.
Cheban's presence at the L'Agence event alongside Pippen has been covered mainly by entertainment tabloids and social-media commentary, which framed the pairing in the context of the broader feud. Neither Cheban, Pippen nor Kardashian issued public statements about the New York appearance.
The episode underscores the intersection of friendship, celebrity and media scrutiny that has characterized the relationships among members of the Kardashian orbit. While public attention to such encounters remains high, the parties involved have given mixed messages over the years about the status of their friendships, at times describing reconciliations and at others reiterating distance.
As of Wednesday, the social-media statuses and public comments from the principal figures leave the current relationship dynamics ambiguous: Pippen continues to be based in Miami and has publicly maintained she is focused on family and personal life, while Kardashian remains in California and continues her business and media activities. Entertainment coverage is likely to follow any further public interactions among the group.