Karlie Kloss Addresses Her, Husband Josh Kushner's Ties to Trump Family
When Karlie Kloss fell for Josh Kushner in 2012, the 6-foot-2 supermodel still had some growing up to do.
But as it turned out, she couldn't have met a better partner than the Thrive Capital founder to invest in.
"I absolutely met, married and am madly in love with my soulmate," Kloss, who wed Kushner in 2018, said on a 2020 episode of InCharge With DVF. "He is truly my partner. He is my partner in life. He is my best friend.
And since she was only 19 when they met, "I think there's a lot of growing into myself that I still was doing when I first met him and still am to this day."
Since then, everything about their partnership has expanded, from their family world as parents of sons Levi Joseph, 5, and Elijah Jude, 3, and 11-month-old daughter Rae Florence, to their sprawling business portfolio—which now includes the Los Angeles Lakers, Kushner having teamed with former Disney CEO Bob Iger to lead a $12.5 billion purchase of the storied NBA franchise.
Neither St. Louis-proud Kloss nor New Jersey native Kushner—who also owns a piece of the Miami Heat—have frequented the celeb-filled sidelines at Lakers games yet, but they are big basketball fans.
And, incidentally, their real estate holdings already include a waterfront mansion in nearby Malibu along with their Manhattan penthouse and Miami Beach estate.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
But though the couple's public profile is only growing—Kushner's real-time net worth on Aug. 12 was $5.2 billion, according to Forbes—they take pains to keep it a silhouette.
"My mom always told me the goal of life was to be happy to go to work," Kushner told Fortune in 2023 in the rarest of mentions of his private world, "and be happy to come home." (Yet while he's a man of few words, his Instagram could be mistaken for a Kloss appreciation account.)
And Kloss, who shields her kids' faces on Instagram, fondly remembers how "social media was not a thing" when she started modeling in 2007.
As she recalled on the July 30 episode of The World's First Podcast With Sara and Erin Foster, "Nobody cared what models thought—or barely what their names were, much less what their thoughts on the world were. I came into the industry at a time where I got to be a silent movie star, and I loved that."
Now, the 34-year-old continued, "I really value my private real life. I also think that the enormous amount of attention all at once sort of overwhelmed me and gave me PTSD from actually letting people in. And I think, because of that, people don't feel like they really know me."
And while she doesn't worry too hard about being misunderstood, she admittedly doesn't want "to be judged for things" she has nothing to do with, noting, "That is the only thing that's been frustrating."
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
But, she added, "I made a personal choice a long time ago that I was just going to live my real life and sort of not give a s--t what anybody thinks about it."
That included her decision to convert to Judaism before swapping vows with Kushner in upstate New York on Oct. 18, 2018, wearing custom Dior for the occasion.
"Changing part of who you are for someone else can be seen as weak," Kloss told British Vogue in 2019. "But you know what? Actually, if you’ve been through what I’ve experienced, it requires you to be anything but weak. It requires me to be stronger and self-loving and resilient. I really did not take this lightly."
In fact, she said on The World's First Podcast, she had "six-plus years of a lot of soul searching" before she took the plunge.
She admittedly misses Christmas—"a little hard, I won't lie"—but has leaned into Thanksgiving, with its "family and food and football...and there's no stress of gifts." And she has embraced observing Jewish holidays, including weekly Shabbat—which means she turns her phone off and doesn't work or travel on Saturdays.
Religion aside, Kloss explained, "It's a framework of how to live a life around family values and education, and prioritizing."
Karlie Kloss/Instagram
But every other day, she's hustling. In addition to her still-thriving modeling career, Kloss' Bedford Media—cofounded with Kushner—acquired i-D magazine in 2023 and plans to relaunch historic LIFE magazine after purchasing the publishing rights in 2024.
Kushner "loves me but he's the most supportive person in my life," Kloss said on InCharge With DVF of expanding her off-the-runway horizons with her husband's encouragement. "He wants me to chase my dreams. He helped me dream bigger."
Marking her 34th birthday Aug. 3, she stopped to count her blessings, captioning a carousel of pics featuring her three kids (who brought her breakfast in bed, presumably with an assist from their dad), "Feeling so incredibly grateful. For my family. For my friends. For my health. For meaningful work. And for all the love that surrounds me every single day. My heart is so full."
Keep reading as we serve up more sweet pics:
Paradise
Back in 2012, Kushner's friend Kevin Systrom predicted that his friend "likes her" while posting this photo of the couple on the beach, and he was totally right!
Desert Tripping
Things started to heat up for the duo (both literally and figuratively) as they trekked to the desert for Coachella in 2013.
Will Ragozzino/BFA/REX/Shutterstock
Young Love
The happy pair made their official debut as a couple at the 2013 WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards.
On the Sunny Side
In 2014, the couple jetted off to Big Sur for vacation and snuck in a few kisses here and there to commemorate the trip.
Coachella is for Lovers
Both Kushner and Kloss love Coachella Music Festival and have frequented the annual event for years together. The spring heat seems to agree with this pair!
Happily Ever After
Everyone is just looking for their Prince Charming and while out in Saint Petersburg, Kloss proved she already found hers.
Picture Perfect
After walking the red carpet at the 2016 Met Gala, Kloss cuddled up with her beau at a fun after party in NYC.
James Devaney/GC Images
Courtside Cuties
The power couple took in a New York Knicks game in 2016 and they couldn't help but show a little PDA while sitting court-side.
Four Years Down, A Lifetime to Go
In 2016, the supermodel shared this kissing snap in honor of the couple's fourth anniversary of meeting. Clearly, four years in was only the beginning for these two.
Party Animals
On the co-founder of Oscar Health's birthday in 2017, Kloss shared this party pic and the sweetest note to her love. "My atoms love your atoms, It's chemistry. - @atticuspoetry," she wrote. "Happy birthday to my best friend and partner in crime. The past 5 years of our adventures together have been some of the best memories of my life. I love you."
Total Eclipse of the Heart
The couple that watches the total solar eclipse stays together...right?
Adventure Buddies
These two lovebirds are always up for an adventure like their trip to the Wadi Rum Desert in April, or their time in Iceland, or Montauk, or Myanmar. Seriously, we could go on forever.
Forever and Always
In July 2018, Karlie announced their engagement by sharing this sweet photo. "I love you more than I have words to express. Josh, you're my best friend and my soulmate. I can't wait for forever together. Yes a million times over," she captioned the shot.
Joe Schildhorn/BFA/REX/Shutterstock
Say I Do
Three months after Joshua's proposal, the couple tied the knot in an intimate Jewish ceremony held in upstate New York on Oct. 18, 2018.
Newlywed Bliss
Karlie and Joshua jetted off to South Africa for their honeymoon in late 2018.
Instagram / Derek Blasberg
Round Two
Mazel tov...again! Eight months after they became husband and wife, the couple's star-studded inner circle gathered for a wedding celebration in June 2019.
It Takes Two
Karlie shared this black and white snapshot next to her man in December 2019.
Madison McGaw, Angela Pham, & Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
Oh, Baby!
News broke in October that the 28-year-old is pregnant with the couple's first child together.
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