For the past few weeks, I’ve been enraptured with a particular romance and it’s that of Tinashe and her now ex-boyfriend Ben Simmons.
At the moment, you’re likely wondering a couple of things. This may not be a story that interests you because like many of our readers, you don’t know who or why Tinashe is (though you should), nor are you familiar with what a Ben Simmons is either. Many people don’t know, and yet TMZ has (thank goodness) been rabidly following this story and its many offshoots over the past week. Personally, I’m only aware of this relationship because I follow Tinashe on Instagram and, back in April, noticed when she posted a photo of herself with a man in a car and it looked like they were dating. [UPDATE: Tinashe has since deleted that photo after Jezebel posted this important story. A screenshot is below.]
I did some minor sleuthing and it turned out they were. Oh, Tinashe’s dating somebody famous. That’s nice, I thought. But not just anyone famous—a pretty good player for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Oh, that’s not gonna go well, I thought.
Just as quickly as I discovered they were dating, it seemed, I discovered that they were no longer dating. That was quick. Damn, what happened, I thought. (I mean, was it quick? There can be a difference between when a celebrity starts dating and when that person confirms said relationship, as you know.) Tinashe just released her very long delayed decent sophomore album and now she has to deal with this breakup, I thought.
A number of news stories followed and I’m just gonna post the headlines here to speed this up and because the story can be told succinctly that way (via TMZ):
TINASHE - BEN SIMMONS IS MY ‘BOO THANG’
BEN SIMMONS - COZYIN’ UP WITH TINASHE ... After Sixers Win
BEN SIMMONS - HOPS OUT THE FERRARI WITH TINASHE ... After 76ers Loss
BEN SIMMONS - HITS BEV HILLS WITH MYSTERY GIRL ... Is That Kendall Jenner?
Here is where the record scratch in my brain went off. Kendall Jenner? Wasn’t he just dating Tinashe, I thought. There’s also a tiny bit of a chance that mastermom Kris helps set Kendall up on these “dates” with famous people (Blake Griffin, etc.) for the sake of storylines.
The headlines continued:
Kendall Jenner’s Rumored New Man Ben Simmons Accused of Cheating on Tinashe by Singer’s Brother (People)
TINASHE - HITS SAME NIGHTCLUB AS DONOVAN MITCHELL ... After Ben Simmons Split (TMZ)
KENDALL JENNER - SUCKING FACE With Gigi & Bella’s Little Brother (TMZ)
Wasn’t Kendall just dating Ben Simmons? I thought.
(TMZ updated the story about Kendall and the Hadid brother with: “Our sources say the two aren’t dating or anything serious ... they were just having some fun while out with friends. We’re told there’s no bad blood with Kendall, Bella and Gigi.”)
And just today, which is Friday:
BEN SIMMONS - HITS SAME CLUB AS TINASHE ... Reconciling?
Maybe there’s hope for them yet, I thought.
I don’t know what to make of this. Love is a strange thing. All I know is that I’m interested in where this goes—where their hearts go I will follow.
UPDATE 6/12/18, 9:22 AM:
Inside Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons’ Shopping Date
UPDATE 6/14/18, 9:37 AM:
TINASHE DONE DATING BASKETBALL PLAYERS... After Ben Simmons
UPDATE 6/18, 12:08 PM:
Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons spotted grocery shopping
UPDATE 6/22, 9:33 AM:
KENDALL JENNER BACK WITH BEN SIMMONS... Let’s Party!!
UPDATE 6/28, 8:59 AM:
KENDALL JENNER SHACKING UP WITH BEN SIMMONS... In $25k/Mo. Rental
UPDATE 7/2, 10 AM:
KENDALL JENNER & BEN SIMMONS EYEING A BIGGER CRASH PAD IN BEV HILLS
UPDATE 7/5, 11:44 AM:
Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons Spotted Getting Cozy at Khloé Kardashian’s July 4th Party
UPDATE 7/6, 11:09 AM:
KENDALL JENNER AND BEN SIMMONS THREE’S COMPANY... Guest Starring Tinashe
UPDATE 7/9, 9:26 AM:
BEN SIMMONS - TINASHE WON’T LEAVE ME & KENDALL ALONE... I Need More Security
UPDATE 7/13, 12:55 PM:
TINASHE LOL AT BEN SIMMONS... Security For Me???
UPDATE 8/13, 10:10 AM:
DISCUSSION
“We’re told there’s no bad blood with Kendall, Bella and Gigi.” What does TMZ mean? Do you suck face with someone’s brother to get back at them? Do people get angry if their friends hook up with their siblings?