Outside of her career on TV and her multi-million dollar makeup empire, Kylie Jenner is also known for her close-knit group of friends, ranging from her BFF Anastasia “Stassie” Karanikolaou to makeup artist Ariel Tejada. And for a long time, Jenner counted her very best friend as Jordyn Woods. The two met through mutual friend Jaden Smith in 2012 and were attached at the hip for the greater part of the 2010s.
Jenner and Woods became inseparable after their friendship blossomed in 2012, and together, they collaborated on Jenner’s makeup line, appeared on numerous red carpets, went on vacations together, and even starred in the makeup mogul’s own reality TV show, “Life of Kylie.” Given their lengthy friendship, it seemed that nothing could get in the way of their strong bond – that is, until February 2019, when Woods was swept into a cheating scandal with Tristan Thompson, Khloé Kardashian’s then-boyfriend.
The scandal caused a whirlwind storm in the media and quickly ended the friendship between Woods and Jenner. Four years later, however, the two were spotted leaving a restaurant together in July 2023, and, along with a TikTok by Jenner featuring Woods, many are speculating that the former BFFs have mended their relationship.
Here’s a timeline of Jenner and Woods’s friendship over the years.
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2012: Kylie Jenner and Jordyn Woods Meet for the First Time
Jenner and Woods first met the year before the two started high school. According to a Q&A video that Jenner and Woods did on the “Keeping Up With the Kardasians” star’s Youtube channel, their mutual friend, Jaden Smith, introduced them. In the video, Jenner explained that Smith and Woods had been lifelong best friends, while she met Smith sometime in middle school. When Jenner and Smith invited Woods to hang out, their friendship took off. “You put your name in my phone with a purple heart, and I still have the purple heart in my phone,” the Kylie Cosmetics founder revealed.
Getty / Allen Berezovsky
December 2013: Kylie Jenner Makes Her Debut on Jordyn Woods's Instagram
After keeping their friendship on the DL for a bit, Jenner made her debut on Woods’s Instagram around Christmas time in December 2013. According to Cosmopolitan, Woods shared a picture of her and Jenner in all-black outfits alongside the caption, “Merry Christmas from the goths❤️.”
Getty / Chance Yeh
June 2018: Kylie Jenner Reveals Jordyn Woods Lives With Her
Given the close bond between Jenner and Woods, it was no surprise when “The Kardashians” star revealed in a June 2018 video with Vogue that the two lived together and that Woods was always there to help her test out new makeup products. “I test out most of my stuff on Jordyn because we live together, so I’m like, ‘Jordyn, I need you,'” Jenner said. “Everyone that comes in my house has tinted red arms from swatches and shadows.”
Getty / WWD
September 2018: Kylie Jenner and Jordyn Woods Collab for Kylie Cosmetics Collection
As Jenner’s lip kits became more successful, she expanded her makeup business and created eyeshadow palettes, highlighters, blushes, and more. The Kylie Cosmetics empire became even bigger when she began collaborating with others for special collections.
In September 2018, Jenner launched the “Kylie X Jordyn” collection, which featured an eyeshadow palette, highlighter kit, matte lipstick, and two lip glosses. Regarding the collab, Jenner shared in an Instagram post, “Jordyn and I have had a true unmatchable relationship and I consider her family. She’s helped me remain ME throughout all these years and this is the first time we have collaborated on such a project! It has been so much fun and I’ll cherish the memories forever!”
Getty / Stephane Cardinale - Corbis
February 2019: News Breaks of a Cheating Scandal Between Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson
While Jenner and Woods seemed to be stronger than ever, a situation began to unfold that would affect their friendship for years to come. In February 2019, TMZ reported that Khloé Kardashian’s then-boyfriend, Tristan Thompson, was seen getting very close with someone at a house party just days after he spent Valentine’s Day with Kardashian. The person in question was none other than Woods. Though Thompson publicly denied the alleged hookup at the time, sources told Us Weekly that the NBA star admitted to cheating on Kardashian when she confronted him about it.
The news absolutely shocked the world, and Woods and Jenner had a very brutal and public falling out. A source revealed to People that shortly after the scandal erupted, Woods was “moving back to her mom’s house. It’s been a difficult time and she’s broken up about it. She’s heading home to be with her mom.”
The polarizing and tense situation became more complicated when Woods appeared on Jada Pinkett-Smith’s “Red Table Talk” in March 2019 to share her side of the story. In the 30-minute long video, Woods told Pinkett-Smith that after a night of clubbing with friends, she went to Thompson’s house to continue having fun. After a long night, Woods explained that Thomspon kissed her as she was leaving. “On the way out, he did kiss me,” she revealed. “No passion, no nothing, on the way out. He just kissed me. Like a kiss on the lips, no tongue kiss, no making out, nothing.”
Getty / Emma McIntyre
July 2023: Kylie Jenner and Jordyn Woods are Spotted in Public Together Again
During the fallout from the scandal, Jenner and Woods seemingly ended their friendship. Jenner unfollowed Woods on Instagram sometime in July 2019, and the two didn’t appear together in public for nearly four years. In July 2023, however, the former friends were spotted by The Daily Mail leaving a restaurant in Los Angeles together. According to People, despite that being their first public outing in years, Jenner and Woods had allegedly been working on their friendship in private for the previous year. “Jordyn reached out to Kylie to apologize for how everything went down and let her know that she loves her,” a source told the outlet.
Then, in September, Jenner posted a TikTok that included Woods. The video showed the rekindled friends on a shopping outing at Acne Studios.
While it is unknown if the two are going to be as close as they once were, it is clear that some friendships can survive even the most difficult of circumstances.
