Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker are in love, in case you hadn’t heard (or seen).
The Poosh founder and the Blink-182 drummer are longtime friends, but in January they reportedly decided to give a romantic relationship a whirl—and it’s been full throttle ever since.
It started as it always does in today’s brave new dating world: leaving a few innocuous, flirty comments on social media posts. Back in January, Barker gushed “you’re so cool” when the mother of three posted photos from the movie True Romance, one of Barker’s favorite films and the reason why he named his daughter Alabama.
Shortly after Valentine’s Day came a photo of Kourtney holding Barker’s hand, and although she didn’t tag the rocker, his distinct tattoos quickly gave him away. Then came an emo, high school-reminiscent note that read “may we destroy each other.”
From there, Kourtney’s public display of love took on new heights, transforming into a nearly NSFW, PDA-packed campaign for what could be a mashup of Hot Girl Summer meets Simp Girl Summer—or better yet, Hot Couple Summer.
In early April, the reality star posted a blurry photo of herself kneeling on a bed, with the end of her waist-long braided ponytail apparently held in Barker’s hand. “Watchin’ movies, but we ain’t seen a thing tonight,” she captioned it, plucking the lyrics from Ariana Grande’s sex-filled song “34+35.” Not to be outdone, Barker then got Kourtney’s name inked on his chest and later lustily captioned an Instagram post, “All day I dream about sex w/ you.”
But the steamiest public interaction to date came from Barker’s birthday message to Kourtney. (Although there’s a case to be made for Monday’s post, where a thong bikini-clad Kourtney straddles Barker during a hug in the desert as he grips her behind.) He posted a photo collage of them making out and touching Kourtney’s foot with her behind barely cropped out, declaring in all caps, “I f*king love you! You’re a blessing to this world.”
Those who swiped all the way through were greeted by a short video of Kourtney seductively sucking on his thumb. Keeping in mind Kourtney’s sister Kim Kardashian’s infamous sex tape, the clip obviously made viewers do a double take.
Now, while Kourtney and Barker’s horny antics are undoubtedly hot, they are somewhat polarizing. Half the internet stans their so-called “Southern California pop-punk” aesthetic, likening them to their double-date partners Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox. Others cringe at the almost teenage nature of constantly oversharing online.
Of course, no new relationship plastered all over social media is complete without a salty ex chiming in. Barker’s ex-wife Shanna Moakler, with whom he shares daughter Alabama and son Landon, seems to be irked by her ex’s over-the-top online affection. Despite divorcing in 2008 after four years of marriage, Moakler liked a comment on Instagram that took a swipe at Kourtney: “Shhhhiiiii that broad don’t got nothin’ on you. Travis downgraded big time.”
A source close to Moakler explained to People that although Moakler has “moved on” from Barker, she’s “hurt” because “everything he’s doing for Kourtney he did before for her, like the plane flying overhead, the flowers. It’s all exactly the same.”
Kourtney’s 27-year-old ex-boyfriend Younes Bendjima also shaded the new couple (in a since-deleted Instagram Story) after their most recent loved-up photo made waves online. “Shamelessness has become so normal in today’s society that modesty has become strange,” the model, who dated Kourtney from 2016 to 2018, wrote.
There’s been no public commentary from Kourtney’s ex Scott Disick, the father of her three children Mason, Penelope, and Reign, apart from a source telling E! News that he’s “uncomfortable” seeing her in such a “serious relationship.” Maybe he’s keeping quiet because she’s been mostly mum on his own eye-raising relationships with Sofia Richie, 22, and most recently 19-year-old Amelia Gray Hamlin.
And if the rumor mill is to be believed, there will be no cooling down of the randy posts, as Barker’s friends suggest the pair could be “getting engaged sooner rather than later.”
