Jonathan Cheban has relocated from New York City to Los Angeles for business reasons after nearly two decades as a close confidant to the Kardashian family.
The former Keeping Up With The Kardashians personality was seen leaving Japanese restaurant Nobu in Malibu on Thursday evening, displaying a California tan as he headed to the valet stand shortly after 86-year-old Beatles legend Ringo Starr departed the venue.
Cheban had been attending an event inside Nobu hosted by longtime friend Khloe Kardashian to celebrate her upcoming Hulu spinoff series, titled The Girls: A Khloe Kardashian Project. The new reality show features several of her close friends, including Malika Haqq and Olivia Pierson, with Kardashian sharing social media photos alongside Pierson from inside the Malibu location.
West Coast Relocation
Sources confirmed Cheban moved across the country to launch several commercial brands and explore new television opportunities. "He is living in Los Angeles these days and loving it," a source told the Daily Mail. "It's a new beginning for him. He is working on several new brands and may pop up in a new reality TV show."
The decision to depart New York comes as the city grapples with severe urban challenges. Almost 100,000 individuals reside in municipal shelters across Manhattan, while nearly 5,000 unsheltered residents live on city streets, subways, and public parks. Rising consumer prices, high rents, and a heavy tax burden, including a municipal personal income tax assessed on top of New York State income taxes, have compounded cost-of-living concerns.
Insiders noted that Los Angeles offers a more manageable lifestyle for the food entrepreneur. "Jonathan moved back to Los Angeles because it's just nicer, it's cleaner and cheaper and easier to get around, even with all the traffic, he loves driving from here to there," a source explained. "He loves the weather and a lot of the restaurants, he is FoodGood after all and eats out a lot."
Kardashian Family Ties
Cheban first formed a bond with the Kardashian family in 2008 and maintains close connections with sisters Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe. "He is still close to Kim, Kourtney and Khloe, they all talk and hang out, it's nice," a source shared. "He is glad they are all doing so well."
Addressing fan inquiries earlier this year on her sister's podcast, Khloe in Wonder Land, Kim Kardashian clarified that their friendship remains strong despite busy family schedules. "I love Jonathan. We should call him... Jonathan and I are good. Here's the thing, I had kids," Kim explained, referring to her four children, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, shared with ex-husband Kanye West.
During the podcast episode, the girlfriend of Lewis Hamilton observed that parenting reshapes personal routines. "It's really hard to maintain friendships when you have kids and you're like in it... Jonathan is not going to come and sit around Calabasas all day. He's like always on the move," she noted. Khloe Kardashian agreed, adding that childless friends have different schedules: "Especially when someone else doesn't have kids. It's not like you can do play dates with your kids. I get that, and we love Jonathan. There's so much history there."
Cheban previously addressed their bond in March 2025, telling the Daily Mail that his relationship with Kim is entirely non-transactional. "I don't want anything from her, I don't need anything from her," he said. "We've been friends for 15 years and I don't ever want to have any issues, connecting her with a guy or connecting her with business. I don't need anything except her friendship."
Business Ventures and Media Career
Cheban has built a wide-ranging portfolio of culinary and lifestyle businesses. His commercial projects include national meal delivery service Foodgod Fresh, Restaurant Imposters sauces, and Cold Case Ice Cream. His past entrepreneurial projects include clothing line Kritik, Miami restaurant Sushi MiKasa, smartphone protective cover Glam Screen, digital media platform TheDishh, Long Island eatery Burger Bandit in Lynbrook, New York, and the podcast Foodgod: OMFG!
His television career began in public relations during the 1990s under veteran New York publicist Peggy Siegal. After forming his own agency and co-founding CommandPR, Cheban met Kim Kardashian and became a prominent recurring figure on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. He subsequently appeared in spinoff series Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, and Kourtney and Khloe Take The Hamptons, while occasionally appearing on Hulu's The Kardashians, including Khloe's Dollywood-themed 40th birthday celebration in June 2024.
Beyond the Kardashian franchise, Cheban headlined his own 2010 public relations series The Spin Crowd, entered the United Kingdom's Celebrity Big Brother house in 2016, joined season two of Celebs Go Dating in 2017, and appeared on Food God, Celebrity Family Feud, and Gemma Collins: Diva Forever in 2018 and 2019.
In recent years, Cheban has expanded his social circle across entertainment and political figures. He was photographed attending a 2011 Las Vegas event at Tao with Kim Kardashian, joining Cynthia Boich, Isabela Grutman, David Grutman, Wayne Boich, 50 Cent, and Travis Scott in Miami in 2022, spending time with Ivanka Trump in Las Vegas in December 2023, and attending the 2025 opening of Planet Hollywood NYC alongside reality figures Melissa Gorga and Margaret Josephs.
