A timeline of Grimes and Elon Musk’s relationship as she says they’ve broken up - again

Grimes has shared an update on her relationship status with Elon Musk after revealing they welcomed their second child, a daughter named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk.

The singer, 33, revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair on 10 March that the couple welcomed the newborn in December 2021 via surrogate.

The news came as a shock to fans, who were under the impression that Grimes and Musk ended their three-year relationship in September 2021. But speaking to Vanity Fair, the “Oblivion” singer explained that the two have a fluid, inexplicable partnership.

“There’s no real word for it,” Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, said about her relationship with Musk. “I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid. We live in separate houses. We’re best friends. We see each other all the time…We just have our own thing going on, and I don’t expect other people to understand it.”

“This is the best it’s ever been,” she said when asked if the two were happy after the birth of their daughter. “We just need to be free.”

However, following the publication of the Vanity Fair article on Thursday, Grimes confirmed on Twitter that she and Musk have broken up again since the piece was written.

“Me and E have broken up *again* since the writing of this article haha, but he’s my best friend and the love of my life, and my life and art are forever dedicated to The Mission now, I think Devin wrote that part of the story rly well,” she wrote. “Sique - peace out”.

Musk and Grimes’s relationship has been a whirlwind of ups and downs. From unfollowing (and then refollowing) each other on Instagram, to a posed photoshoot of Grimes reading The Communist Manifesto following their “semi-separation”, the two have remained dedicated to one another since their romance began in 2018. Here is a timeline of Grimes and Elon Musk’s relationship.

According to Vanity Fair, Grimes and Musk first met in 2018 when the SpaceX founder slid into her DM’s, where they made the same pun about artificial intelligence. Shortly after, the two debuted their romance when they attended the Met Gala in May 2018.

Elon Musk has had a long dating history before making things official with the “Genesis” singer. Musk — who was then the founder of the online banking company X.com, which later became PayPal — was married to his first wife, Justine Wilson, in 2000. The former couple met while studying at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. In 2002, they welcomed their first child, Nevada Alexander Musk, who died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome at 10 weeks old.

Elon and Justine went on to have a set of twins — Griffin and Xavier Musk — in 2004, and a set of triplets — Kai, Saxon, and Damian Musk — in 2006.

In 2008, Elon filed for divorce from Justine. In a 2010 personal essay published in Marie Claire, the mom of five said her marriage was “a dream lifestyle, privileged and surreal,” she wrote. “But the whirlwind of glitter couldn’t disguise a growing void at the core.”

“I felt insignificant in his eyes, and I began thinking about what effect our dynamic would have on our five young sons,” she said. “I barely recognized myself. I had turned into a trophy wife — and I sucked at it.”

Justine recalled that six weeks after Elon filed for divorce, he texted her to say he was engaged to “a gorgeous British actress in her early 20s,” Talulah Riley.

Pride and Prejudice actress Talulah Riley married Musk in 2010. The couple were married and divorced twice, from 2010 to 2012, and again 2013 to 2016.

The billionaire business mogul went on to briefly date Aquaman actress Amber Heard on and off between 2016 and 2018, amid Heard’s divorce from Johnny Depp.

Musk is named on a list of potential witnesses to testify in the ongoing defamation case between Heard and Depp.

When Grimes confirmed her relationship with the Tesla CEO in 2018, the singer — who was known as a “cyberpunk art pop genius” since her rise to indie stardom in 2010 — quickly saw a dent in her reputation. Much like any couple that meets on Twitter, the beginning of their relationship also played out online. They changed their profile pictures to matching anime characters, and responded to critics of their relationship in real time.

“break up with elon NOW,” tweeted a fan in July 2018. “No,” Grimes simply replied.

In January 2020, the Canadian singer revealed on Instagram that she was pregnant, but did not confirm if Musk was the father until March.

Their son, X AE A-XII, was born that May. Grimes took to Twitter to share the meaning behind their baby’s name, which includes the elven spelling of artificial intelligence and references to the couple’s “favourite aircraft”. Musk responded to her tweet with a small correction: “SR-71, but yes”, to which Grimes replied: “I am recovering from surgery and barely alive so may my typos b forgiven but, damnit. That was meant to be profound [sic].”

Musk didn’t seem to mind, and tweeted back at the singer: “U r a powerful [sic]” alongside an emoji of a fairy and one of a princess.

Things took a turn for the couple only two weeks after their son was born, when Musk tweeted to his followers, “Take the red pill,” a reference to the 1999 film The Matrix. Grimes’ mother, Sandy Garossino, responded in a now-deleted tweet, “If your partner went through a challenging pregnancy and childbirth in the last two weeks... And you were over 16 years old, Would you be blaring MRA bullsh** on Twitter right now?”

The drama continued to unfold on social media in July 2020 when Musk tweeted: “Pronouns suck”. Grimes replied to Musk’s sentiment on gender pronouns: “I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a [call]. I cannot support hate. Please stop this. I know this isn’t your heart.”

After the public display, the two remained relatively quiet on social media for the remainder of the year, apart from an appearance on Saturday Night Live in May 2021. Grimes opened about how life as a new mother to baby X has been an artistic rebirth for her, even though she does not identify with the label.

“Being a mother feels weird to say, I don’t identify with that word,” Grimes said in a video with Vogue last year. “Which is also weird because, X, he says ‘Claire’ but he doesn’t say ‘mama’.”

In September 2021, Musk revealed to Page Six that he and Grimes had “semi-separated” due to conflicting schedules and locations. “We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said.

After her split from the world’s richest man, Grimes trolled paparazzi into thinking she had returned to her communist roots when she posed reading The Communist Manifesto. In December, she released a song called “Player of Games” that hinted to be about the breakup, and she seemingly poked fun at Musk when he was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” that same month.