For the past two decades, the Kardashian family has turned breakups, lawsuits, and betrayal into headlines, followers, and billion-dollar businesses. They’ve sold out siblings, recycled exes, and blurred every boundary between personal and profitable to stay in the public eye.
What started as a reality show became something much bigger. They built an empire out of chaos, using scandal as fuel and reinvention as strategy. Every mistake became a new storyline, every controversy a marketing opportunity. Nothing was too personal. Nothing was off limits. And when one era ended, another was already lined up and waiting. This isn’t a story about fame.
It’s about control and how far you’re willing to go when your own blood is a part of the brand. In the 1970s, Chris Mary Hooin was 19 and newly engaged to 31-year-old professional golfer Caesar Cenudo. Caesar was often traveling for work, and Chris would take advantage of this by cheating on him with Robert Kardashian.
until one day Caesar arrived home early and caught them in the act. Suddenly, the wedding was off and $30,000 worth of Caesar’s gold, roughly $1 million today, allegedly went missing. Soon after the breakup, Chris and Robert began dating, and several years later, they married and had four children. However, Chris’s old habits would die hard.
In the late8s, she began having an affair with 23-year-old professional soccer player Todd Waterman. This affair went on for about 2 years until one of Robert’s friends spotted Chris and Todd together and told him what was going on. This led to Robert hiring a private investigator to confirm it. And once he had proof, the marriage unraveled almost immediately.
And by early 1991, Robert filed for divorce, citing infidelity. As part of the custody battle, Chris was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, one that allegedly described her as narcissistic, manipulative, and pleasure oriented. a characterization that would follow her for decades. Within just weeks of the divorce being finalized, Chris married Olympic medalist Caitlyn Jenner and gave birth to two more children, Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
By the late ‘9s, Courtney, Kim, Khloe, Rob, Kendall, and Kylie were living together under one roof. And to help with the workload of raising such a large family, Chris would allegedly make 13-year-old Khloe drive Kendall and Kylie to school. According to Khloe, Chris would also make her drive her around late into the night so she could keep partying, even recalling one night where Chris drank too much and threw up all over her.
This is the beginning of a pattern that would follow Khloe for the rest of her life. One where she’s treated as lesser than her sisters. For example, when Courtney and Kim turned 16, they were each gifted new BMWs. But when it was Khloe’s turn, Chris handed her the keys to an old handme-down Chevy Tahoe.
While Chris on Chloe’s birthday bought herself a brand new Mercedes. ; On my actual 16th birthday, a flatbed comes to the house with a brand new Mercedes SL on your birthday. ; On my birthday, I call mom crying. Oh my god. Guess whose car it was? Mom’s car. I gave birth to you. I was treating myself. ; By the year 2000, Kim had already been married once.
At just 19 years old, she eloped with music producer Damon Thomas, a man 10 years her senior. But the marriage didn’t last long. By 2003, Kim filed for a divorce, later claiming in court documents that Damon had been controlling and physically abusive, allegedly forcing her to drop out of college and quit her job. Damon, on the other hand, accused Kim of being obsessed with fame and using his money for cosmetic procedures.
The marriage ended as quietly as it began, but it set the tone for nearly every relationship that would follow. Transactional, imagine, and destined to end in public followout. That same year, the family was hit with tragedy. Robert Kardashian, the patriarch who had once defended OJ Simpson in the trial of the century, passed away from cancer at just 59 years old.
And to make matters worse, Sanja Norwood, the mother and manager of R&B singer Brandy, was accusing Kim of allegedly racking up over $120,000 in unauthorized credit card payments while working as Bry’s stylist. ; My best friend is Brandy. We’d always shop together. And one day she called me and was like, “Will you be my stylist?” And I said, “Sure.
” You know, she’d always said it. I thought she was kidding. Allegedly, after being given her credit card to purchase some outfits for her daughter, Kim went straight to the newly opened Kardashian family boutique Dash that was managed by Courtney and spent over six figures on clothes for herself. Sanja filed a lawsuit.
Kim denied any wrongdoing and the case was later settled privately out of court with no official details released. Around the same time, Courtney was carving out her own storyline. In 2006, she began dating Scott Dick, a 22-year-old party boy from New York who quickly became a fixture in the Kardashian orbit and eventually a reoccurring character in the family’s next big experiment.
On October 14th, 2007, Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered on E, turning their private dysfunction into prime time television. Almost overnight, the family became a household name. But behind the scenes, Chris was already strategizing how to turn that fleeting attention into Empire level fame.
One of her first moves was convincing Kim to pose topless for Playboy, a shoot Kim was hesitant to take, as the idea of exposing herself made her feel uncomfortable. However, Chris saw the potential and even joined her off camera, shouting encouragements at Kim, like, “You’re doing amazing, sweetie.” The timing couldn’t have been any more convenient.
Just as the family’s reality show was finding its footing, Kim’s tape with Ray J suddenly leaked online. Publicly, Kim claimed to be humiliated. But the scandal sent ratings through the roof. Viewers who had never heard of Keeping Up with the Kardashians were suddenly tuning in to see the woman at the center of the controversy.
And Chris, whether she planned it or not, had just discovered the formula that would define her family’s empire turn shame into headlines and headlines into profit. In 2010, the Kardashians launched one of their most notorious early money grabs, the Kardashian card. The worst offender may be the new Kardashian card, named for the reality show CButant.
A prepaid Mastercard marketed directly to teens and young adults. The card charged predatory fees. A six-month card costs $59.95 just to set up, $1.50 50 to use the ATM, $1 for balance checks, $150 to speak to customer service, $9.95 to replace a lost card, and $6 to cancel the account. Critics immediately accused the family of exploiting young fans who didn’t understand the financial traps.
Backlash escalated so quickly that Connecticut Attorney General Georgeepson issued a public warning about the card’s outrageous terms. Within just weeks, the Kardashians quietly pulled their branding from the card and tried to let the scandal fade into obscurity. But the message was clear, even in their early rise.
The Kardashians were willing to monetize their audience, especially young and financially vulnerable fans. But while the rest of the family was cashing in on the chaos, Rob Kardashian was quietly trying to process his own grief. In 2008, he graduated from the same school his father once attended and marked the milestone by getting a memorial tattoo for his late father on his arm.
Instead of supporting his decision and recognizing this was Rob’s way of dealing with grief, they told him he has completely ruined his body. While Chris Jenner mimics putting a to her head and pulling the trigger, Rob reminds Chloe that she has a tattoo above her butt that says, “Daddy, and she responds by telling him he’s so stupid.
; You are so stupid.” ; Chloe follows up by saying that Rob’s up, not thinking it through, and calls him a dumb for marking his body. The next year, Khloe would meet NBA player Lamar ODM at a party, and just one month later, the two would marry in a televised ceremony at a Beverly Hills mansion.
Most of the guests barely knew Lamar, if they knew him at all. But that didn’t matter to Chris. She openly said the wedding was quote great for the show, and treated the entire thing like a storyline giftwrapped by the universe. The rush was so extreme that even the Los Angeles Times ran a piece questioning whether the marriage was real or just reality TV performance.
That same year, Chris’s managerial reach expanded to her younger daughters. At just 14, Kendall Jenner was signed to Willil Hamina Models. And Chris began approving photooots that critics said looked far too adult for her age. And while Chris was managing her daughter’s careers, she was also managing something else entirely. Faith.
In 2009, Chris Jenner founded a church known as the California Community Church, a small invite-only congregation based in California. Over the years, the church has drawn speculation online with some observers suggesting it may offer unusually generous tax benefits for its high-profile members. Led by Pastor Brad Johnson, the church’s origins are almost stranger than fiction.
Brad once led a 4,000 person congregation in Westlake Village, California, until he was caught cheating on his wife, leading to him resigning in 2007. After three failed attempts and a short-lived job at Starbucks, Chris Jenner tracked him down and convinced him to help her start a brand new church. Members of California Community Church are encouraged to donate 10% of their annual income as a te that for most people can then be written off on their taxes.
There’s no proof, but many have speculated that when someone like Kim Kardashian donates her 10%, it may quietly find its way back to her. This church is clearly a tax writeoff. Bible. So, in general, churches are huge tax loopholes. They’re exempt from paying federal, state, and local taxes, and all their financial records are closed.
And Kim has said in interviews that she gives 10% of her income to the church each year. If she makes $80 million a year, that’s $8 million. And if the other sisters are doing that, too, that’s at least like $50 million in tithings. If your church made $50 million a year, would it look like this? Oh, and here’s what I think really seals the deal.
The girls don’t worship there. They go to Hillsong. They used to go to Sunday service. Is it because this isn’t really a church? Is this just a bank? Within just 3 years of partnering with Chris, Pastor Brad had remarried and purchased an $850,000 home. Not bad for someone who had been working at Starbucks when she found him just 3 years prior.
But as Chris was cultivating spirituality, Kim was cultivating connections, and not always the kind you would expect. Around this time, Kim Kardashian was introduced to Malaysian financer Joe Low, a man who had later become infamous for orchestrating the multi-billion dollar 1MDB corruption scheme. Kim reportedly met him through Vegas party circles, the same circles where Lo was known for handing out jaw-dropping gifts to celebrities.
According to multiple outlets, including the New York Times and the Guardian, Joe Low once handd delivered came a garbage bag stuffed with $250,000 in cash after a night of gambling. He also allegedly gifted her a white Ferrari, one of many luxury cars he sprinkled across Hollywood during his money laundering spree.
What makes this even more eyebrow raising is that Emily Ratikowski described the same man in her memoir, recalling how low would fly young women out, lavish them with designer items and giant cash payments and expect their company in return. A setup people have long compared to the infamous yaching pastime. However, Lo wasn’t just generous.
He had a pattern, a very specific one. And while Kim has never commented on the intention behind his gifts, viewers can decide for themselves why a fugitive billionaire, later accused of using stolen public funds, was handing out cars and quarter million dollar cash bags to certain women in Hollywood. That same year, Courtney gave birth to her first child, Mason Dick, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians hit its ratings peak.
By this point, Kim had become the beauty blueprint for a generation of young women everywhere. Courtney was the entrepreneur and Rob was the bad boy. But what was Khloe? Unfortunately, the public cast Khloe in the role of the black sheep. And while fans and tabloids fantasized over Kim, Courtourtney, and Rob, they mocked Khloe, often commenting on her size and facial features, sometimes even cropping her out of family photos.
To make matters worse, her own family was body shaming her on their extremely popular television show, turning her insecurities into punchlines for millions to watch. ; Don’t you think you’d lose lose a few pounds? ; What? ; Don’t you think you should lose a few pounds? ; I have a rockhard body. I’m just a bigger individual. ; No, you are a bigger individual, but you could lose a few pounds.
; Meanwhile, Kim’s love life was quickly becoming the family’s next headline. In late 2010, she started dating NBA player Chris Humphre. And just like that, another relationship became a storyline. The romance moved fast, and by the time the family met him during a trip to Bora Bora, tensions were already showing.
Humphre had a strange dynamic with Kim’s younger brother, Rob, and what should have been a family vacation turned into open hostility. At one point, Humphre criticized Rob for not having a real job, even saying Khloe needs to kick him out of her house. Rob, clearly caught off guard, defended himself, saying he wanted to focus on his career and that their late father wouldn’t approve of him being on vacation while unemployed.
Humphrey shot back, calling Rob a brat. And when Rob walked away, Humphre reportedly went to Chris Jenner and told her that her son was into prostitutes, even asking if he had permission to lay hands on him. ; I hear it all the time, lose this, from my sisters, from random people. I swear I feel like I’m going to explode.
; Later that night, Humphre demanded Rob apologize and even threatened to hurt him if he didn’t. ; Look at me, son. ; Say you’re sorry. I will beat an apology out of you. ; In late 2011, Kris Jenner released her memoir, Chris Jenner and All Things Kardashian. In its pages, Chris bragged about her affair with 23-year-old soccer player Todd Waterman, describing the relationship and their sex life as addictive and crazy while recounting their sexual encounters in graphic detail.
What made it even more unsettling was the timing. Robert Kardashian had been dead for nearly a decade. Readers were shocked that Chris seemed to romanticize the affair that ended her marriage while portraying herself as the victim of boredom. Instead of remorse, she wrote about the thrill. The memoir cemented her public image as the unapologetic mummager, someone willing to turn even her own moral failures into a marketing opportunity.
And while Chris was rewriting her own history, Kim was busy creating hers, one that would soon become another rating spectacle. Despite fans already feeling uneasy about Humphrey’s behavior, Kim moved forward with a relationship. In May of 2011, he proposed with a 20.5 karat Lorraine Schwarz diamond ring. And by August, their fairy tale wedding aired as a two-part television special on Eve.
But the fairy tale didn’t last long. Just 72 days later, Kim filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The split dominated tabloids for months and became a cultural punchline. Proof to many that every Kardashian romance was just another storyline for the cameras. And while the divorce might have damaged her reputation, it didn’t slow her down.
Just months later, Kim was already booking international appearances, capitalizing on her global fame. In 2011, she traveled to Dubai, Kuwait, and Bahrain for the grand openings of a franchise called Millions of Milkshakes. But these particular trips sparked more than just fan hysteria. Online rumors began circulating that Kim’s paid appearances were a cover for something else entirely with speculation that she was engaging in the kind of discreet high-end yaching culture that many influencers and socialites were rumored
to participate in during that era with some pointing to the bizarre gifts given to her by Joe Low a few years earlier as evidence she was already involved in that type of work. Whether or not those rumors had any truth, the controversy didn’t end there. When Kim arrived in Bahrain, her visit drew public protests from conservative groups who called for the event to be cancelled entirely.
Riot police were deployed as demonstrators gathered outside, chanting against her appearance, forcing security to escort Kim through back entrances to avoid the crowds. It was one of the first signs that the Kardashian brand wasn’t just polarizing at home. It was beginning to cause chaos on an international scale.
Around this time, Kendall Jenner celebrated her sweet 16, an event that marked her transition into the family’s next media focus. The party featured luxury cars, celebrity guests, and performances, one of which came from rapper Taiga, who at the time was 22 years old. It was during this event that Kylie Jenner first met Taiga, who would later become one of her most controversial relationships.
At the time, Kylie was still just a child, and no one could have predicted how significant that brief introduction would become. But years later, their relationship would ignite public outrage and reshape the narrative around the youngest Jenner’s image entirely. By the following year, Kim was officially dating Kanye West, confirming months of speculation after he referenced her in his song Theaflu.
The two were soon seen together at Paris Fashion Week, and their relationship immediately became tabloid gold, uniting two of pop cultures most polarizing figures. That same year, Rob Kardashian tried carving out his own identity with the launch of Arthur George, a luxury sock brand, launching in 2012, Arthur George offered designer pairs of socks for $30 each, and Rob seemed happy to finally have something of his own going on.
However, Kim didn’t approve of Rob using their late father’s middle name, George, in the brand name, as she, Courtourtney, and Khloe had a line at their boutique store, Dash, titled Robert George. Rob’s sock company, Arthur George, was a combination of his middle name and his father’s middle name. Not to mention that Robert Kardashian was named after his father, Robert Kardashian.
Rob would even go on to say, “We’re family. We’re supposed to help each other and I feel like no one ever takes me seriously. Kim thinks everything’s about herself. This would develop further in the family therapy episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians where Rob expresses that the family puts this cloud on me like I’m a loser.
When there’s a business opportunity, all my mom obviously cares about is the three girls. However, Kim interrupts Rob, saying that Chris Jenner never helped them with their businesses. Rob expresses how he feels misunderstood, sad, and frustrated before tearing up and exiting the therapy session. Whether or not naming Rob’s sock company Arthur George was harmful to the sister’s clothing line, looking back at these episodes does make it look like Rob’s in an impossible situation.
The family chastises him for not doing anything, but when he does try to do something, they break him down, poking holes in his ideas, pointing out how it will affect themselves. Meanwhile, Courtney Kardashian gave birth to her second child, Penelopey Scotland Dick, on July 8th, 2012. And for once, she seemed to have the most stable life of the family.
Behind the scenes, though, things weren’t so picture perfect. Tabloids began circulating stories that Kris Jenner’s marriage to Caitlyn was under strain with rumors of separations and long stretches spent living apart. In an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Rob would sit down to talk to Khloe’s then boyfriend, Lamar Odum, and open up about his weight gain as well as the severe effect it’s had on his self-esteem.
At the time, fans empathized with Raw, suggesting he opened up to Lamar as he couldn’t do it to his family. Later on the same season, a now pregnant Kim would invite Rob to eat In-N-Out, pizza, and Chinese food with her as Rob quote eats like a pregnant woman. Between the weight gain confession to Lamar and the scene where Kim says he eats like a pregnant woman, the paparazzi began bombarding Rob with questions about his weight.
By June 2013, Kim’s divorce from Chris Humphre was finally official, closing one of the most embarrassing chapters of her public life. But before the dust even settled, another headline was already forming. Just 12 days later, on June 15th, 2013, Kim gave birth to her first child, Northwest, with Kanye West.
And a few months later, on October 21st, Kim’s 33rd birthday, Kanye proposed in full cinematic mode, renting out San Francisco’s AT&T Park and flashing Please Marry Me across the giant screen. But while Kim’s life was starting to look like a fairy tale, the family’s glossy image was cracking everywhere else.
Around this time, Lamar Odum, Khloe’s husband, was arrested for DUI, and his long rumored struggles with addiction exploded into the public eye almost overnight. And for the first time, the family couldn’t control the narrative. By the end of 2013, the illusion of perfection the Kardashians built their empire on was showing real undeniable fractures.
In October, Chris and Caitlyn Jenner officially separated, ending their 22-year marriage. The family tried to spin it as amicable, but tabloids told a different story. Years of resentment, control, and quiet competition finally pushed the relationship past its limit. And just 2 months later, Khloe filed for divorce from Lamar Odum, citing irreconcilable differences after months of public scrutiny over his substance abuse and rumored infidelity.
It was another blow to the family’s carefully curated image and yet another reminder that the cracks were widening faster than they could be patched. And as if that weren’t enough, the family’s past came back to haunt them. Around the same time, Robert Kardashian senior’s private journals were published by InTouch Weekly.
The entries written during the late 1980s and early 1990s described Chris’s neglect, violent outbursts, and infidelity, confirming years of speculation about the dysfunction that built the Kardashian Empire. One entry claimed Chris would leave all four children, then under the age of 11, alone for days at a time, writing, “She doesn’t leave a number in case of emergency. She doesn’t care.
She left the kids and screwed all night.” Another diary entry from Christmas Day read, “Chris was out till 3:00 a.m. I was home with four kids. I was all alone on Christmas Day, and Chris was out with her lover. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself.” Many of the entries paint Chris as an unfaithful party girl, more interested in chasing excitement than caring for her family.
In one, Robert described Courtney crying and begging for her mother to make dinner while Chris was out of the house with Todd Waterman. And in perhaps the most shocking entry, Robert wrote that Chris was quote and Kim and said she was going to her. Kim was hysterical. The diaries gave the public its first raw look at how much darkness hid beneath the polished Kardashian brand and made it harder than ever to separate family dysfunction from fame.
But just as the family’s darker history was resurfacing, Kim found herself in a new controversy. This time tied to Kanye’s charitable work. In 2013, Kanye West and Rhymefest launched a nonprofit arts organization that targeted the youth living in the south side of Chicago called Dais House. The organization’s goal was to provide programs that combine creative arts such as fashion and music with business development and marketing skills, something both Kanye and Rhymefest attribute to keeping them away from the gang life and street violence that is
common within that area. However, 5 years later in 2018, Rhymefest would take to Twitter and claim Kanye had abandoned the organization and that without his financial support, they wouldn’t be able to continue. Following this, Rhymefest tweeted at Drake asking if he would like to fill Kanye’s shoes. This didn’t sit right with Kim, and once again, she inserted herself into a situation that didn’t involve her and began to attack Rhymefest in a series of back-to-back tweets, saying, “You haven’t been right since you got kicked
out of the studio in Hawaii wearing fake Yeezys. You’re overleveraging Kanye’s name and asked Kanye to donate money to you, so stop with your fake community politics and lies. Truth is, you haven’t been able to sustain the foundation.” as well as saying, “I saw you at our studio a few weeks ago, so why didn’t you bring this up then? You were trying to get Kanye to listen to your subpar beats.
You have the audacity to use Kanye’s mother’s name to try to shed a negative light on Kanye.” After insulting Rhyme Fest, she moved to threatening him by saying, “You better believe I will make it my mission to take Da’s house from you and let my children run it the way it should be run.
” This was interpreted as Kim threatening to take Da’s house, the nonprofit helping underprivileged youth in Chicago and ruining it just so Rhymefest couldn’t have it. Following this, people from Chicago, including people who had taken advantage of DA’s House programs, began to beg Kim not to ruin Da’s House by taking it away from Rhyme Fest.
However, several hours later, Donna’s House released a statement saying that due to Kim’s threat to take control of the organization and let her kids run it, they had decided to stop using the name DA’s House, saying, “Over the last 5 years, we have put our students and community first. We’d like to thank all of our supporters, and we assure you that our hearts have always been with the city of Chicago, and we will continue to support youth in our future endeavors.
We encourage Kim and Kanye to indeed pick up the baton of service.” While the tweet claimed to have only stopped using the name Donna’s House, the organization itself never reopened, leading to even more backlash from Chicago locals, with some claiming Kim’s involvement on Twitter was the nail in the coffin.
The following day, Kim would once again take to Twitter and tell her side of the story across several tweets, claiming that due to Kanye going through some financial issues, he was unable to fund the organization. However, the tweet from Rhymefest that originally set Kim off was just him asking another successful artist if they would like to fill the position Kanye once had.
Kim, Kanye, and Rhymefest would later meet up to apologize and work things out together. However, Kim would later claim that she’d never tweeted any of that and that Kanye had actually stolen her phone and had been tweeting from her account. The feud didn’t just damage Kanye’s public image, but also exposed Kim’s instinct to defend the family brand at any cost, even if it meant tearing down a charity in the process.
But while Kim was busy waging Twitter wars in her husband’s name, Rob Kardashian was quietly falling apart. His way to become a public obsession. Paparazzi taunted him, tabloids ran daily stories, tracking his size, and even his own family mocked him both on television and in interviews. What started his teasing on Keeping Up with the Kardashians evolved into cruelty.
The most tragic part was that Khloe, who had spent years being mocked by her own appearance, didn’t defend him. The same impossible beauty standard set by the Kardashians that had once destroyed Khloe’s self-esteem, were now destroying Robs. And instead of keeping his struggle private, the family did what they always do. They turned it into content.
Cameras followed as he spiraled, capturing every breakdown, every moment of humiliation, and airing it for millions to see. Eventually, the ridicule broke him, and in one of the shows most uncomfortable scenes, Rob broke down crying on camera, admitting he felt ashamed of his body. I’m sad cuz I I don’t even want to sit down cuz ; After that, Rob began retreating from the public eye, skipping family events and quietly phasing himself out of the show altogether.
But even before Rob distanced himself completely, the dynamic between him and Khloe had already raised eyebrows. The relationship, once framed as close siblings by the show, often crossed boundaries both online and on camera. For example, old tweets began circulating of Chloe saying, “In Rob’s world, baby mama and sister mean the same thing, as well as, “How hot is Rob?” lol.
Is that weird since he’s my brother? But it doesn’t stop there. Chloe has a long history of hitting on her brother Rob. ; Incest is best. Did anyone teach you that, ; you guys? Rob got a boner about seeing my boobs. ; The family that plays together stays together. ; You want I’m going to look at you when you say that. ; While Rob was fading from the spotlight, Courtney’s relationship with Scott Dick was beginning to unravel.
After nearly a decade together, rumors of Scott’s infidelity and alcohol abuse dominated tabloids and became a reoccurring storyline on the show. Their relationship had once served as the series emotional anchor, but by now it had devolved into something closer to spectacle. Meanwhile, in 2014, Kendall Jenner was stepping into her own uncomfortable spotlight.
At just 18 years old, she made her runway debut for Marc Jacobs at New York Fashion Week, wearing a sheer see-through top that exposed her chest. The moment was marketed as a coming of age in fashion, but in reality, it was just another example of Kris Jenner pushing her daughters into over sexualized adult situations the moment they become legal.
Then in May 2014, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West married in a lavish ceremony in Florence, Italy. A media event covered from every angle. However, Rob Kardashian flew home just hours before the wedding, reportedly feeling too insecure to appear in front of the cameras amid the intense public attention.
Paparazzi later photographed him arriving back in Los Angeles, wiping tears from his eyes as reports circulated that he had skipped the ceremony because of anxiety about his appearance and the overwhelming press surrounding the event. This family has allegedly fat shamed him. He’s eaten himself into something terrible. Emotionally, he’s probably a mess and he needs a friend.
; But while Rob was retreating from the spotlight, Kylie Jenner was stepping into it. Media would begin circulating of Kylie’s 17th birthday party, where a now 24-year-old Taigga could be seen handing her a bottle of tequila and telling her to take a shot. ; Just 2 days later, Tiger would call off his engagement to the mother of his child, Black Chyna and failed to show up for a club appearance in West Hollywood after the venue refused entry to underageed Kylie Jenner.
This sparked rumors that the two were dating and Taigga would attempt to set the record straight in an interview with the Breakfast Club, saying, ; “Now, are you smashing it now? You red shirting until you turn each.” ; No, I’m not dating Kylie. I’m not dating that. So, I just want to get that out the way.
And I want to be clear to everybody that I didn’t leave my family to be with Kylie. That’s ridiculous. However, Kylie and Black Chyna began throwing shade at each other over Instagram and Snapchat, creating a messy love triangle between 26-year-old China, 24year-old Taiga, and 17-year-old Kylie Jenner. To make matters worse, more and more photos of Kylie and Taigga began circulating with Drake even taking a shot at Taigga in a song, saying, “Act your age, not your girl’s age.
” This was the beginning of the King Kylie era. She was rapidly gaining followers on Tumblr, Snapchat, and Instagram for her fun and carefree posts. She was dating Taigga, feuding with China, and now even Drake was mentioning her in songs. Kylie was 17 and some of the biggest rappers in the world were suddenly talking about her, although it was usually about her and Taigga’s bizarre relationship.
; Now, with Tiger, you feel like his relationship with your sister-in-law is inappropriate. ; They closer in age than a lot of relationships that I know. You know what I’m saying? ; He’s 25. She’ll be 18 in August. Like, yeah, I I kne I knew Tiger was smart. ; Meanwhile, Courtney Kardashian gave birth to her third child, Rain Dick, as her relationship with Scott Dick continued to unravel amid reports of partying and infidelity.
Around the same time, fans started noticing changes in Kylie’s face and plastic surgery rumors were spreading online. Fans also noticed Kylie’s style shifting with some saying she was copying Black Chyna, Tiger’s ex- fiance. And this wouldn’t be the last time Kylie seemed to morph herself into the image of the woman before her.
Meanwhile, Tiger got her name tattooed on his arm and released a song called Pleaser where he seemingly brags about dating a 17-year-old while being 24 himself saying T Nasty about to catch a felony for it. As well as the song Stimulated, where he claims she’s a big girl when she’s stimulated. ; I want to be clear to everybody that I’m not dating Kylie.
Kloe would actually defend Taigga in an interview with Complex magazine, explaining that she was sleeping with people in their 20s when she was 16, and Kylie’s a special case, so it doesn’t matter. Anyways, Kylie’s sister, Kendall, would find herself in the spotlight around the same time, but for her own controversies. In 2014, a story went viral involving a server who claimed Kendall and Haley Bieber left a restaurant without paying after being denied alcohol for being underage.
When staff followed them outside and asked them to pay, Kendall allegedly threw $20 bills at the server and walked away laughing. Other restaurant and service industry workers started describing similar experiences. One New York City waitress rated Kendall a 4 out of 10 for being cold and refusing to speak directly to staff, instead having her security place orders for her.
This is another one where I unfortunately did not have the best experience with them. She used to come in all the time and was pretty cold towards staff. She also usually has someone speak for her and doesn’t speak directly to staff. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she’s just shy. For my experiences with her, I have to give her like a 4 out of 10.
; At a Brooklyn restaurant called Baby’s All Right, the staff posted a photo of Kendall’s receipt to highlight that she didn’t leave a tip. This was really the beginning of the Mean Girl title that continues to follow Kendall to today. ; I’ve had so many run-ins with this woman.
Like, I lived in West Hollywood the same time she was living in West Hollywood. And let me tell you, like I saw her everywhere. Like this girl frequented the places I was frequenting and we had many an interaction. I’m going to be honest like most the interactions were not positive. This girl was constantly making my life difficult.
Whether it was like cutting the lines at the coffee shops or like shutting down full establishments because she wanted to be there even though other people were already eating. with several other iconic moments backing this up, such as when she made her assistant carry her umbrella, driving erratically and honking at cars to get out of her way.
; What’s your problem, Kando? There’s a lot out of space over there and stepping over the rope at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By now, it was obvious the family felt very important and clearly don’t care what we think about them. One of the clearest examples of this entitlement happened at Disneyland, where the family shut down an entire ride so they could have the attraction to themselves, leaving regular park guests stranded in long lines as cast members blocked access.
The moment went viral because of how casually the family acted, sitting alone in a completely empty ride while hundreds of paying guests watch from behind ropes. Oddly enough, this isn’t the only time the family has had problems with people at Disneyland. ; I’m waiting in line. It’s been like 20some minutes and I haven’t moved from the spot.
You know, it’s like the ride break or what? Someone whispers to me, “Dude, the they’re waiting. The Kardashians are about to get on the boat.” They had their own security. So they have like Disney like people in plaid, but they had dudes dressed in black. And you know, I go to take a picture and they were like immediately in MY FACE. ; NO PICTURES.
IF YOU take one more picture, I’m going to send you out of the park. We’re going to contact Disney. They’re going to have you kicked out of the park immediately. But like a dude with his kids behind me was taking a picture and the guy’s like and he gave him the whole this whole threatening thing. And then the dude like put the phone down and still went like And then the guard was like, “Yeah, I like how you tried to sneak one.
” Yeah, I like really like how you tried to sneak one his ; And while the family’s entitlement became harder and harder to ignore, another storyline was quietly reaching its breaking point. Courtney and Scott. By mid 2015, Courtney Kardashian officially ended her decadel long relationship with Scott Dick. After years of public breakups, infidelity, and his ongoing struggles with alcohol, the split played out on the family show, marking the end of one of its longestr running storylines.
And if that wasn’t shocking enough, several months later, Calin was involved in a fatal car accident on the Pacific Coast Highway that left one woman dead. Although Caitlyn was never charged, the incident added another layer of scrutiny to a family already living under constant public attention. Later that year, in October 2015, tragedy struck when Lamar Odum was found unconscious at a brothel after a drug overdose.
He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and placed on life support. Despite being in the process of finalizing their divorce, Khloe Kardashian rushed to his side and called off the divorce to remain legally able to make medical decisions during his recovery. While Khloe was focused on Lamar’s health, Kylie Jenner’s fame was exploding.
In August 2015, she turned 18 and went public with Taigga at her birthday party after he gifted her a $320,000 Ferrari. This was the peak of the King Kylie era, a time where she replaced Kim as the new blueprint for a generation of young women. Around this time, Kloe debuted her new television show, Cocktails with Khloe, a talk show that was cancelled after one season.
This was a weird era for Khloe. It was clear she was struggling to find her place in the family and figured a daytime TV show could be her next big thing. Unfortunately, most of what people remember of this 14 episode show is an infamous episode where her halfsister Kendall Jenner tells a funny story about a drunk Chloe sexually assaulting her after she went to bed ; like 2 years ago.
I mean, this is it happens all the time, but she was so drunk and I’m going to bed. I’m in my room and you came in and you literally started humping me. I the next I’m not kidding. She got on me, humping me, going crazy, ; claiming that even after begging others to take Chloe off of her, she continued ; like, “Khloe, please get off of me.
I was begging people to get her off of me, and she would not leave me alone, ; saying the following morning that she had scratches and scabs on her body left from Chloe.” ; The next morning, I had scratches down my hand that I like scabbed. ; The entire vibe of this show is off. A 32-year-old Khloe is interviewing a 20-year-old Kendall in the kitchen while Brandy Glennville, Aisha Tyler, Kim Whitley, and celebrity chef Chiron Hackman hang out and watch Kendall recount a story from when she was assaulted at age 18. All while Khloe
looks around the room for approval, trying to laugh off Kendall’s story while claiming that quote, “Incest is best.” ; Crazy. Literally, I was like, ; Chloe attempts to downplay it, claiming that Kendall is exaggerating, only for Kendall to double down. ; She’s exaggerating. Okay. ; No, I’m not kidding. I tweeted it.
Remember, ; I remember. ; While this is happening, out of discomfort from the story, Chiron wanders off to get something out of the cupboard while Aisha turns her back to the camera and makes herself busy by the sink. Not that it matters so much, but another bizarre thing about this show is the age of its guests.
At the time, Brandy was 44, Aisha was 46, Kim was 55, and a 32-year-old Khloe is asking them for drunk party stories like they’re at a frat party. Meanwhile, Kim found herself in hot water again after a software developer who worked with her on her app, Kimoji, alleged that she left him financially ruined, leaving him to live in his car.
; My name is David Levenson, a one successful business owner, now sleeping in my car. I was a self-made entrepreneur who founded my own startups, one of which Kim Kardashian stole. Emoji launched in 2015 for $1.99 on the App Store and supposedly sold $1 million worth of copies in its first minute alone.
According to software developer David Leebenson, he met with Kim Kardashian and Chris Jenner throughout 2013 and 2014 to discuss the production of the app. Working only off of a verbal agreement, David received a call from Kim’s legal team inquiring if he had already registered a trademark for Kimoji. And after telling them no, Kim’s team offered to do it for him to speed up the process.
Suddenly, the trademark gets approved and David’s name is nowhere to be seen, effectively stealing his work from him while claiming it as their own before he had a chance to. In 2019, David sued Kim Kardashian for $100 million, allegingly stole his app, to which Kim and her lawyers counter sued him for $300 million, an amount that led to David withdrawing his original lawsuit.
However, even after he essentially gave up on receiving compensation for his work, Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner still pursued him, ordering $400,000 in legal fees and financial compensation for what happened, leading to David’s wife divorcing him, kicking him out of the house, leaving him to live in his car while he works two different jobs just to pay the money he continues to owe Kim Kardashian and Chris Jenner.
In October 2016, while attending Paris Fashion Week, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint inside her private residence at the Hotel Deort. Armed men disguised as police officers entered the apartment, tied her up, and locked her in the bathroom before stealing nearly $10 million in jewelry, including her engagement ring.
The incident left Kim deeply traumatized and marked a turning point in her public life. After years of flaunting her wealth online, she withdrew from social media for months and dramatically increased her security presence. And just a few months later, Kylie would capitalize on her social media dominance by launching Kylie Cosmetics.
Starting with her now infamous lip kit, the three shades sold out instantly, and by the end of 2016, the brand had generated more than $300 million in revenue. In just 2 years, Kylie had gained over 80 million Instagram followers, transforming her from a carefree teen into a self-styled business mogul. But as her aesthetic matured, the chaos that had fueled her from early fame began to fade.
The controversy surrounding her relationship with Taigga had already died down once she turned 18. And even the feud with Black Chyna fizzled once China announced a relationship, an engagement, and a pregnancy with Kylie’s brother, Rob. The situation was so bizarre, it stopped being scandalous.
And by early 2017, Kylie quietly ended things with Taigga, closing out the King Kylie chapter entirely. ; We started talking to Kylie, which was kind of crazy cuz she was like underage. I think she was like 16 or something. And we was like um engaged and stuff. So that’s that’s kind of like what ended it. ; How did you find out about that? ; I feel like the same way everybody else did. The internet.
One month after the breakup, Kylie was spotted holding hands with rapper Travis Scott at Coachella and spontaneously decided to join him on tour. And within a month, she became pregnant with her first child. Around the same time, Khloe Kardashian was moving on from Lamar Odum and beginning a new relationship with NBA player Tristan Thompson.
The two were first spotted together in August of 2016, and almost immediately, rumors of Tristan’s infidelity were already circulating. In April 2017, Kendall Jenner faced one of her biggest public backlashes after starring in Pepsi’s protest commercial, which depicted her handing a police officer a can of Pepsi to end a standoff.
The ad was accused of trivializing the Black Lives Matter movement. And within 24 hours, Pepsi pulled it and issued an apology. Kendall claimed she hadn’t realized how tonedeaf the commercial would appear, but the damage to her public image was already done. Around this time in an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians during a trip to Dubai, Kim went off on a quote ghetto girl she found staying in Scott Dick’s hotel room.
; Or do you think we should go bang down the bathroom door and see what is in there? You’re just like a such a Get your insecurity will escort you the out of here. Kim had a meltdown as she confronts this woman who fans speculate to be real housewives Larsa Pippen, repeatedly calling her a disgusting while ordering her personal security to remove her from Scott’s room.
Everyone but Kim looks confused and embarrassed while Kim begins to yell at Scott and tell him that he just made her feel bad about Courtney. ; What are you talking about? ; What am I talking about? The ghetto girl in your room. For context, Scott Dick had been Courtney’s long-term boyfriend until she broke up with him two years prior in 2015.
To make matters even more confusing, at the time, Courtney had been in a relationship with another man for over a year. Yet, Kim still took the opportunity to throw her weight around and bully a woman on her television show. The ironic part being that Kim then calls Kanye to brag about how quote ghetto she just was for calling the woman ghetto.
I just caught a girl in Scott’s room and went so ghetto on her. All of my friends like literally jaws dropping. Like who is this ghetto girl? Like Stephanie and I are like shaking. ; All while claiming that she doesn’t want to get involved. ; Whatever. I just don’t want to be involved. It’s just not my style. ; Just a few months later in July 2017, Rob Kardashian posted revenge of Black Chyna on Instagram and Twitter, sharing explicit photos and accusing her of cheating.
The post sparked public outrage and legal consequences. China was granted a restraining order against Rob, and the situation marked one of the family’s ugliest public scandals to date. But Rob wasn’t the only one making headlines. Kendall Jenner was once again called out, this time by other models, proclaiming in an interview that she was super selective about her runway work, saying, quote, “I was never one of those girls who would do like 30 shows a season or whatever the those girls do.
” The comment was supposed to sound exclusive or elite, but to most people in the industry, it sounded entitled and disconnected. Kendall was bragging about being able to turn down jobs while the models she was mocking were grinding to survive, deepening her reputation as an outofouch mean girl Nepo baby. By December 2017, Kloe announced she was expecting her first child with Tristan.
But during her pregnancy, Kloe learned that she was expecting a girl. And the moment was unexpectedly emotional. Instead of being excited, Khloe admitted she was deeply disappointed, even crying on camera because she quote always wanted a boy. ; I’m having a girl. ; You’re lying. ; I’m not lying. ; Shut up. I’m having a girl.
I’m really hoping Kylie is going to say she’s lying and like I’m really having a boy. Chloe says her disappointment of having a girl comes from her feeling like she was having a boy. ; To be having a girl, it’s just like, okay, it wasn’t what I thought was going on. ; And this could be true. However, it could also be that she’s worried about her daughter growing up as a member of the Kardashians, a family that exclusively lives for the male gays with allegations of yaching and underage plastic surgery to improve their value.
All while the men in the family get a complete pass and aren’t expected to be anything other than themselves. Unfortunately for Khloe, just 4 months later, days before she gave birth, multiple outlets published footage showing Tristan entering hotels and kissing multiple other women. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Khloe went into labor almost immediately after the scandal broke, giving birth to True Thompson in a Cleveland hospital surrounded by cameras and chaos. Meanwhile, Kylie Jenner was entering a new chapter of her life. In February 2018, after months of speculation and secrecy, she announced the birth of her first child, Stormmy, with rapper Travis Scott.
The announcement broke social media records, marking Kylie’s transformation from teenage reality star to young mother. For a while, it seemed like she was attempting a mumfluencer rebrand with her content shifting towards walks with the baby and gardening. But this didn’t really work with her audience. By this point in time, Kylie was a 20-year-old mother, and her fan base were mostly teenagers and people in their early 20s.
What originally made Kylie stand out amongst her siblings was her relatability. But between her child and her business, she lost the chaotic, carefree edge that had defined her. Instead, she settled into the same wealthy, polished mold as the rest of her sisters. And with her rebrand failing to connect, Kylie once again retreated from the public eye.
By mid 2018, the tension inside the Kardashian family had reached a breaking point. During filming for Keeping Up with the Kardashians, an argument between Kim and Courtney erupted into one of the show’s most infamous blow-ups. It started as a disagreement over scheduling a family photo shoot, but quickly spiraled into something deeper.
Years of resentment boiling over on camera. Kim accused Courtney of being the least interesting to look at, and Courtney broke down crying, saying she didn’t want to be around her family anymore. The moment went viral, and for many fans, it marked the start of Courtney’s gradual withdrawal from the family brand. The first real fracture in the Kardashian empire.
Despite the controversies, Kendall’s rise only accelerated. In 2018, Forbes officially named her the highest paid model in the world, surpassing veterans like Jazelle Bonin. For someone who had only been modeling professionally for a few years, the jump was staggering. But the reaction wasn’t what she hoped for. A lot of people felt that Kendall’s success said less about talent and more about the raw power of the Kardashian machine.
It bothered people because Kendall often acted like modeling was something she could pick up and put down whenever she felt like it. Insiders alleged that she sometimes doesn’t decide whether she’s walking in a show until the day of. while real models spend months preparing. Meanwhile, Kendall posts videos of her shaving her legs in the car on the way to the runway after casually deciding, “I guess I’ll do it.
” It reinforced what critics had been saying for years. Kendall wasn’t a model in the traditional sense. She was a rich kid with a famous last name and a mother who could open doors no one else had access to. like presented the cutest like little modeling book to my mom when I was like 14 and then she did her Chris Jenner things and made it all come to life.
; And despite the industry hype, many people still felt she didn’t have that it factor, that presence actual supermodels are known for. Meanwhile, Rob Kardashian was continuing to distance himself from the spotlight. After years of struggling with his mental health and failed business ventures, he quietly sold 50% of his sock line Arthur George to Chris Jenner.
The move kept the company under family control, but confirmed that Rob was done with fame, preferring to live off camera while Chris took over management. As Rob stepped back, Khloe’s transformation became one of the family’s new talking points, but not for the reason she might have hoped.
Between 2018 and 2019, her online presence began to look almost unrecognizable. Fans started noticing how drastically her face and body changed between her Instagram posts, her appearance on the show, and her unfiltered public sightings. It was as if three different versions of Khloe existed at once. The heavily retouched Instagram Khloe, the digitally softened TV Khloe, and the real unedited Khloe, who rarely appeared anymore.
And the irony wasn’t lost on viewers. For years, Khloe had been the one mocked for her looks by tabloids, by strangers online, and even by her own family. Yet, she had a long history of punching down at others for their appearance. ; What am I going to do? It’s the first thing he’s ever actually like immersed himself in.
; Well, besides the two refrigerators, ; even while clearly struggling with her own self-esteem. For example, when actress Khloe Grace Morates tweeted that people in Hollywood needed to quote, “Get their heads out of a hole and pay attention to what was happening in the real world.
” Kloe responded by tagging Khloe Grace Morates alongside an image of a completely different woman experiencing a wardrobe malfunction and asked, “Is this the hole you’re referring to?” Essentially shaming a random stranger’s exposed body to make a point. It wasn’t clever. It was mean, and it highlighted how deeply Khloe had internalized the same beauty standards that once crushed her.
She had mocked Rob’s weight, called him stupid for getting a memorial tattoo, and publicly shamed a young actress for speaking up, all while building an identity around becoming unrecognizable to avoid facing the insecurities she never escaped. Despite Khloe’s lifelong struggle with identity inside her own family, one rumor has followed her for over a decade.
the question of who her real father is. While the Kardashians have repeatedly denied it, fans have long pointed out that Khloe looks noticeably different from her siblings. And speculation intensified once people learned about Alex Ralden. Alex Ralden wasn’t some random name. He was Kris Jenner’s longtime hair stylist, someone she spent countless hours with during the exact era she was cheating on Robert Kardashian.
And Khloe’s resemblance to him is undeniable. the same jawline, the same height, the same features that set her apart from Courtney and Kim. Adding fuel to the rumors, Alex Ralden’s Instagram account follows only a very small number of people, almost exclusively the Kardashians and their businesses. Fans found this odd considering he’s never publicly addressed the rumors and has no known personal relationship with Khloe.
Then there’s the strangest detail of all. Khloe’s middle name is Alexandra. Even though this could be a coincidence, many viewers saw it as one more puzzle piece that Chris never wanted anyone to put together. Now, none of this proves Alex Ralden is Khloe’s biological father. But what’s undeniable is this.
Khloe was never treated like her sisters. Not by the public and not by her own family. And for some fans, the theory that she has a different father isn’t just about genetics. It’s about the way Chris Jenner behaved. The favoritism, the jokes at Khloe’s expense, the neglect, the way Chris elevated Kim and Courtney while Khloe played the family punching bag.
To them, it all points to one possibility. Khloe was never the daughter Chris value. But Khloe’s personal insecurities were about to collide with something even bigger, the Tristan Thompson scandal that would blow the Kardashian universe apart. In February 2019, news broke that Tristan, who had already cheated on Khloe throughout her pregnancy, had now been caught making out with Jordan Woods.
Kylie Jenner’s longtime best friend and practically a family member. The reaction inside the Kardashian machine was immediate and vicious. Kim Kardashian, nearly 40 years old, began publicly bullying Jordan on Instagram, posting thinly veiled threats, mocking her, and encouraging her sisters to pile on, even telling her family they need to quote, “care the living daylights out of her.
; You need to scare the living daylights.” ; The tone was so hostile that fans were stunned, especially because Jordan was only 21, practically a kid, compared to the grown women attacking her. Some fans even questioned why the car Jenner family, especially Kim, was so upset with her, as none of them seemed to care about Tristan, Khloe’s baby daddy, the one who kissed Jordan at all.
Especially considering Kim’s continuing support of Tristan, showing up to watch him from the sidelines at his basketball games after having cheated on Khloe, her sister, and impregnating other women during their relationship multiple times in the past. Meanwhile, Tristan, the actual father of Khloe’s child, repeat cheater, faced almost no public wrath from the family.
No mass unfollowing, no Instagram threats, no televised moral outrage, just a quiet, collective pivot back toward targeting the younger, less powerful woman. The harassment only stopped when a 21-year-old crying Kylie Jenner called Kim and begged her to stop dragging Jordan online, reminding her that Jordan had been part of their family for over a decade.
; Like, she’s just obviously really going through it. We just don’t need to bully somebody is all I’m saying. ; The visual contrast was jarring. A young woman pleading with her nearly 40-year-old sister to stop cyberbullying her best friend. It crystallized something audiences had felt for years. The Kardashians never hold powerful men accountable, only the women who get in their way.
And while the world was still processing the fallout, the Kardashian empire simply kept moving. Because just one month later, in March 2019, Forbes crowned Kylie Jenner the youngest self-made billionaire, praising the meteoric rise of Kylie Cosmetics. Suddenly, Kylie was back in the spotlight, and the self-made label sparked huge backlash online.
Fans had trouble believing that 21-year-old Kylie Jenner, who was born into a famously rich family and had appeared on their television show since she was 11, was anything close to self-made. And almost as if she sensed the shift in public mood, Kim Kardashian announced her next reinvention.
In 2019, Kim announced to the world via the cover of Vogue magazine that she would be pursuing a 4-year law apprenticeship. However, she was quick to reiterate that she wasn’t going to law school and was instead reading the law. In California, a student isn’t required to have an undergraduate degree in order to become a lawyer, which is convenient for Kim because she doesn’t have one, but they are required to pass the baby bar exam.
This baby bar exam would become a storyline on Keeping Up with the Kardashians and an integral part of Kim’s public image for the next 3 years. While fans mocked Kim’s new endeavor, the Kardashians were quietly launching their next money maker, Kardashian Closet, an online resale site where the family began selling their pre-owned clothing.
On the surface, it looked like a sustainable initiative. In reality, it quickly turned into one of the family’s most unsettling controversies. Almost immediately, fans noticed that many listings were priced at absurd markups. Other pieces arrived stained, visibly damaged, or suspiciously worn despite being advertised as like new.
But maybe the most disturbing part came from the children’s clothing section. Chloe, for example, listed pieces that her kids had been photographed wearing, turning literal childhood moments into resellable merchandise. But what really alarmed people were the descriptions, which sometimes implied the items hadn’t even been washed.
One listing in particular went viral. an infant-sized Gucci t-shirt for $120 and accompanied by the note some staining that can be removed. If the stain can be removed, why didn’t she remove it? This led to a wave of speculation online that the unwashed status was part of the appeal, a kind of parasocial memorabilia sold at luxury prices with the added implication that the garment carried the child’s literal DNA.
And it only got creepier when fans noticed Khloe had also sold children’s bathing suits and bathroes, raising even bigger questions about what exactly the Kardashians were comfortable monetizing. In the midst of the backlash over Kardashian closet, another sister was quietly rebranding herself. In early 2019, Courtney Kardashian launched her lifestyle site, Pouch, a Goop inspired wellness platform offering everything from $70 collagen powders to articles about natural living.
It was buil as Courtney’s big step towards independence, her attempt to finally break away from the family machine and build something of her own. But many viewers saw it as yet another extension of the Kardashian monetization pipeline. But while Courtney leaned into wellness, Chris Jenner and Kendall were teasing a brave and deeply personal announcement.
Hyped across social media as if Kendall was about to reveal a major life event or personal struggle. Chris described it as something that made her incredibly proud, hinting at vulnerability, courage, and emotional growth. ; When I was 14, I couldn’t reach as many people as I can now. Now that I’m 22 and I have this whole thing behind me, I can I can speak to so many people and just be like, I can help you and it’s okay and every and I experience it.
I’m very normal and like I understand you like I can connect with you. I try and help. ; Fans began speculating wildly. Was Kendall coming forward with a mental health diagnosis, a medical condition, a personal trauma she had never publicly shared? After 2 days of suspense, the Brave reveal aired. It wasn’t a confession. It wasn’t a struggle.
It wasn’t vulnerability. It was a paid Proactive commercial. Kendall claimed that using Proactive helped her overcome her acne and encouraged young people to do the same. But the story didn’t add up. Years earlier, Kendall had publicly thanked her personal dermatologist, Dr. Christy Kid, for clearing her skin, not proactive.
So, why all the buildup? Why the emotional framing, the vague promises of connection and vulnerability, all to promote a skin care brand she never actually used? It wasn’t just tonedeaf. It felt manipulative. A moment that could have been meaningful turned out to just be another cash grab wrapped in empty language and sold as empowerment.
Around Halloween of this year, Khloe received backlash for dressing as Diana Ross, once again receiving black fishing allegations. While old Halloween photos of her dressed as a pimp with several black women wearing collars attached to a leash began resurfacing. In early 2020, an article was published by the Daily Mail detailing a lawsuit against Chris Jenner regarding an alleged essay.
According to Daily Mail, former Kardashian bodyguard Mark McWills alleges that Kris Jenner grabbed his crotch multiple times and would expose herself to him while he was still working with the family in 2017. One of these instances allegedly happened in Chris’s Bentley after being ordered to sit in the front passenger seat.
After following orders, Chris, without warning, placed her hand on the inside upper left thigh and groin area, caressing Mick Williams. After refusing her advances each time, he was allegedly fired from the job. According to Mc Williams declaration in his original complaint, Chris was quote repeatedly and frequently causing her body to come into intimate physical contact with his body, citing massaging his neck, resting her hand on his inner thigh and groin area, causing her pelvis to run against his back, and exposing parts of her body
to him, all without his consent or approval. Mark McWills also alleged racial discrimination, including pervasive and cruel mockery, harassment, belittling, and otherwise humiliating mistreatment due to his race. After being fired by the family, Mark claimed that he endured harassment, intimidation, and otherwise threatening misconduct in an effort to dissuade or prevent him from bringing any form of action against Chris for their unlawful misconduct.
In July 2020, Kanye announced a lastminute run for president of the United States. What followed was one of the most chaotic spirals of his career. During a campaign rally in South Carolina, Kanye broke down crying on stage, revealing deeply personal details about his family, including that he and Kim once considered aborting their first child. The moment instantly went viral.
Then came the Twitter rants. Over the next several days, Kanye posted a series of explosive tweets accusing Kim and Chris of trying to lock him up, comparing his life to the movie Get Out and claiming the family was conspiring against him. He said Chris hadn’t returned his calls, called Kim a bad partner, and implied divorce.
It was the first time the public saw the marriage cracking in real time, and Kim, the woman who rarely breaks character, was forced to address it. In an Instagram story that read both like a cry for help and a PR intervention, Kim made a rare public statement acknowledging Kanye’s bipolar disorder.
She asked the public for compassion, explained that Kanye was struggling, and admitted that their marriage was under intense strain. She wrote about how difficult and painful it was, especially with someone who refused treatment and distrusted the people closest to him. In 2020, Forbes retracted Kylie’s billionaire status and published an article titled Inside Kylie Jenner’s web of lies and why she’s no longer a billionaire.
This article accused Kylie and her team of allegedly inflating revenue figures and forging tax returns to appear richer than she was. According to Forbes, Kylie’s team claimed Kylie Cosmetics made $360 million in sales in 2018, but documents they obtained showed the figure was closer to $125 million. As a result, Forbes rescended her billionaire title and began questioning what other sales figures might have been artificially inflated.
This was a big deal because at this point, Kylie’s billionaire status was her claim to fame. The Mumfluencer rebrand hadn’t worked, and her relationship with Travis hadn’t elevated her the same way Taigga once had. Maybe it did at the start, but the public opinion of Travis was starting to shift, and Kylie herself was slipping into scandals that weren’t even her own.
On July 12th, 2020, Megan the Stallion was shot in the foot by Tory Lanes while leaving a pool party held at Kylie’s house. The very next day, while Megan was still recovering in hospital, Kylie posted a photo of her foot with the caption, “Thank you, God, for another beautiful day.” This was bizarre as Kylie was seemingly mocking a victim of DV that happened after her party.
Some fans claimed it was merely a coincidence. However, 4 days later, she posted a Tik Tok of her lip-syncing to a Tory Lane song in her car, which was once again interpreted as shade towards Megan. Tory Lanes was ultimately charged with three felonies and sentenced to 10 years in prison. For years, the family had curated an image of luxury, control, and effortless success.
But 2020 began peeling that veneer back in ways they couldn’t easily edit or filter. Around this time, former employees, interns, and contractors started speaking out about what it was actually like to work for the Kardashian Jenner brand. And the picture they painted couldn’t have been further from the glossy Instagram version.
Kim herself was hit with a lawsuit from former household staff who alleged they were denied overtime, breaks, payubs, and even had 10% of their wages withheld for taxes, that according to the complaint were never actually reported. They alleged they weren’t given a way to clock hours, weren’t paid on schedule, and weren’t paid upon termination.
And that was just one household. People who worked for the Kardashian apps and websites also came forward, describing impossibly long hours, low pay, and pressure to produce enormous amounts of content for almost no money. One former editor wrote that she could only afford groceries from the 99 Cent Store while working days, nights, and weekends, and was reprimanded for taking freelance work just to afford gas.
Even the family’s business ventures were reportedly built on unpaid internships with young fans staffing offices, organizing products, running errands, and helping with brand launches for experience instead of pay. But perhaps the most troubling allegations came from inside Kylie Cosmetics. Former workers alleged they were instructed not to look at Kylie when she entered the facility.
And although the brand advertised that its formulas weren’t tested on animals, employees were expected to test products on themselves. Others said that Kylie would have her housekeeper serve as arm models, applying swatches of lip kits and palettes on their skin so she could photograph them for Instagram without having to wash product off her own arm.
The mountain criticism in 2020 didn’t just impact the Kardashian brand. It highlighted how different each sister was evolving. And the most dramatic shift may have come from Courtney Kardashian. In early 2021, Courtney began dating Travis Barker. And almost overnight, her entire aesthetic changed. The once low-key wellness focused sister suddenly leaned into a full pop punk persona.
Leather outfits, dark glam, and constant PDA. What surprised people wasn’t just the rebrand, but the intensity of it. At 42, Courtney was talking about her sex life publicly, posting graphic makeups, and behaving with the kind of reckless enthusiasm usually reserved for teenagers. The backlash was immediate. Some fans felt happy for her after years with Scott Dick, but others found the hypersexual posts and drastic transformation uncomfortable or forced.
Whether empowering or performative, it marked a new chapter for Courtney, one that fully separated her from the identity she held throughout her decadel long tumultuous relationship with Scott. It was also hard to not see the irony of Courtney dating a man completely covered in tattoos after famously mocking her brother Rob for getting a memorial tattoo of their deceased father back in the late 2000s.
Also, for what it’s worth, Travis Barker had previously been obsessed with Kim, even dedicating an entire chapter in his book to talking about how attractive she is. This left fans with a bad taste in their mouth. Was Barker settling with Courtney because he couldn’t have Kim? Either way, life went on and in February of 2021, Kim officially filed for divorce from Kanye West, quietly ending one of the most influential and chaotic relationships in modern pop culture.
Around the same time, Kendall Jenner was facing a controversy of her own with the launch of her tequila brand 818. The promo campaign immediately sparked backlash. In the ads, Kendall wore a braided hairstyle, a cowboy hat, and a blouse resembling a traditional Mexican razo, all while posing on horseback and wandering through agave fields as local farmers worked behind her in the sun.
Critics called the imagery tonedeaf. a wealthy supermodel using stereotypical Mexican aesthetics to market a product she had no cultural connection to. While workers labored in the background, the criticism only grew when people pointed out that 818’s bottle design looked strikingly similar to Tequila 512, a small Austinbased brand founded in 2012.
Fans accused Kendall of copying their packaging nearly label for label from the color blocking to the minimalist layout. Between the cultural appropriation accusations, the aesthetic plagiarism claims, and the optics of Kendall playing Mexican farmhand cosplay for a luxury alcohol brand, 818 quickly became one of the family’s notoriously tonedeaf ventures.
Something funny about the 818 era was a viral clip of Kim taking a shot of it at a party before spitting it out and saying,” ; leading to Kim posting damage control online claiming that shot was a different brand despite being surrounded by 818 bottles. Next came Kylie Swim, one of the family’s most notorious product disasters.
Launched in September 2021, the line went viral for all the wrong reasons. Customers who paid $40 to $85 for the swimsuits quickly discovered they were practically see-through, made with paperthin fabric, and stitched together with messy, uneven seams that looked closer to AliExpress than a luxury brand.
Reviewers pointed out the obvious. These suits weren’t designed for real bodies. They were designed for Kylie’s body, a surgically engineered figure built over years of cosmetic procedures. ; This definitely is just for an Instagram picture. Remember how I said the last suit was the worst bathing suit I’ve ever tried on? This one just beat it.
; Without lining, padding, or proper support, the swimsuits were unwarable for most people. ; If I move a centimeter, something’s going to pop out. ; Kylie had marketed them as high quality, but they functioned more like fast fashion with a luxury price tag. Not long after, Kylie confirmed her second pregnancy with Travis Scott, posting a highly stylized announcement video.
The internet rejoiced temporarily before the Kardashian machine moved on to its next headline. This time, one they couldn’t control. In October of 20121, Kim Kardashian found herself in legal troubles again after the SEC fined her $1.26 million for promoting Emac cryptocurrency tokens on Instagram without disclosing that she had been paid $250,000 to do so.
Because crypto is considered an investment product, her failure to reveal the sponsorship violated federal law. The fine was yet another example of the family monetizing anything, even risky financial schemes without regard for the consequences to their followers. To make matters worse, the following month brought one of the darkest moments connected to the Kardashian orbit, Astroorld.
During Travis Scott’s November 5th, 2021 festival in Houston, a crowd surge left 10 people dead and hundreds injured. As chaos unfolded, Kylie Jenner, who was at the event with Kendall, posted Instagram stories from the VIP section, including a clip that showed an ambulance struggling through the crowd.
The post was deleted once news of the tragedy broke. Despite this, Kylie released a statement claiming she had no idea what was happening in the audience. Pendle attempted to rewrite the narrative by insisting she was in Miami, even though numerous photos and videos showed her dancing beside Kylie at the festival that night.
In the days following the tragedy, Kylie went completely silent online until she quietly returned, not with condolences or updates, but with an advertisement. Her first post after Astroorld was a promo announcing the opening of her and Kendall’s new retail store in the UAE. A move that many interpreted as cold, disconnected, and deeply out of touch.
In early 2022, tensions between Kim and Courtney were reaching a breaking point again. On the Kardashians, Kim accused Courtney of habitually degrading her staff, referencing an incident where a nanny claimed Courtney screamed at her and made her feel so degraded. Instead of taking it out privately, the moment became yet another televised reminder of how fractured their relationship had become.
And then in the middle of family drama, public criticism, and the aftermath of Astroorld, Kim entered one of the most unexpected phases of her life. Kim and Kanye’s divorce was still playing out publicly. And while Kanye made multiple attempts to win Kim back, Kim took the time to antagonize Kanye. For example, when Kim Kardashian announced that she would be hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live, Kanye gifted her a $23,000 fur coat to celebrate her accomplishment.
However, once the episode rolled around, Kim took the opportunity to kiss SNL cast member Pete Davidson on live TV. Rumors began spreading that the two were dating. And 4 months later, on Valentine’s Day, they confirmed these rumors by going on a date to a pizza restaurant together. However, it wasn’t just a regular pizza place.
It was New York City’s John and Vinnie’s, a restaurant that famously sells a Kanye themed pizza called the Ham and Yeezy. Kim and Pete would post photos of them eating the Kanye themed pizza on social media, and fans immediately noticed that Kim had worn the $23,000 fur coat that Kanye gifted her after she announced she was hosting SNL on her date with an SNL cast member to a pizza place that sells a Kanye themed pizza.
Kanye would actually defend Kim on social media, saying, “Don’t have beef with Kim. I love my family, so stop that narrative. I’m not giving up on my family.” However, him and Pete would continue to take shots at Kanye with Pete famously getting the names of Kanye’s kids tattooed on his neck as well as sending Kanye photos of himself in bed with Kim.
Following this, Kanye would take to Instagram and say, “I’m really concerned that SK will get my kid’s mom hooked on drugs. He’s in rehab every 2 months.” However, after that statement, Kanye released a music video for a song titled Easy that depicts Kanye burying Pete and planting roses on his head. Pete would respond by being papped inside the gated community Kim Kardashian lives in, driving around in a golf cart with Kanye’s kids sitting on his lap.
Some fans speculate that Kim had paid paparazzi to take these photos to taunt Kanye, with some even theorizing that Kim’s entire relationship with Pete Davidson was an attempt to have Kanye break down mentally so the Kardashian family could place him under a conservatorship. But while the tabloids were obsessing over Kim and Pete, Kim sparked one of her biggest modern era scandals.
Her infamous get your ass up and work comment. ; Get your up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days. ; Delivered in a variety interview, the line came across as painfully tonedeaf, a billionaire lecturing workingclass women about hustle culture. The backlash was immediate and brutal, and it added yet another layer of public resentment toward the family.
Around this time, Kim was continuing to push her lawyer era, and had been attempting to pass the Baby Bar exam for years. With a team of lawyers she hired as private tutors, three years of studying, and four attempts, she finally passed the Baby Bar in 2022, a test every firstear law student takes and must pass to continue their education.
Despite a full law degree, typically requiring four years of part-time study to complete, Kim felt the three years it took her to pass the baby bar was enough to start calling herself a lawyer. However, as she wasn’t actually a lawyer, Kim opted for a true crime podcast instead. Kim Kardashian’s the system premiered in 2022 and questioned the conviction of death row inmate Kevin Keith.
In the first episode, Kim speaks directly to Kevin, saying, “I’m really hopeful for this podcast. just to get your story out there because I think it’s important for people to understand that our system is soed up. ; 30-year-old Kevin Keith was arrested at his home in Crestline. He is charged with three counts of murder for allegedly killing three members of the Chapman family.
; According to the case back in 1994, three people were killed and three people were injured in a shooting at the Bousiris Estates Apartments in Busous, Ohio. Marichel Chapman, her four-year-old daughter Mare, and her aunt Linda Chapman were killed in the shooting, while Marichel Chapman’s boyfriend Richard Warren and her cousins 6-year-old Quinita Reeves and four-year-old Quinton Reeves were wounded in the shooting.
Several days after the murders took place, police began interviewing the victims, and Richard Warren, who was shot twice by the asalent, said that Linda had stepped outside to meet a masked man. When Warren asked his girlfriend Marichelle who the man was, she said it was Kevin. The masked man then entered the apartment, ordered everyone to lie on the ground, and then began shooting.
Kevin Keith, the masked man in question, was Marichel Chapman’s ex-boyfriend and had recently been implicated in a large drug bust due to Marichel’s brother working as an informant. The Bousy Police Department and the Crawford County prosecutors claimed that Kevin Keith carried out the shooting in retaliation for his arrest for his involvement in the drug ring, which had resulted from the information received from Marichel’s brother, Rudel Chapman.
In court, Kevin claimed he was 30 m away from the shooting, hanging out with his two girlfriends. However, Kevin’s neighbors testified that around 8:45 p.m., they saw Kevin get in his girlfriend’s car and drive away. A forensic analyst testified that a license plate imprint left in a snowbank at the crime scene matched the same car his neighbors saw him drive away in, and this placed Kevin at the crime scene at the time the murders took place.
While Quinita was still in the hospital recovering from her injuries at the time of the trial, she said she was positive that Kevin Keith was the man who shot her. Following the trial, the jury found Kevin Keith guilty and sentenced him to death, starting decades of appeals. However, despite Kevin Keith’s neighbor blowing up his alibi, forensic evidence placing him at the scene, and three eyewitnesses claiming Kevin Keith shot them after murdering three people in front of them, Kim Kardashian alleges in her podcast that he is in fact innocent and a victim of
racism. As the jury only consisted of white people, Kim Kardashian’s The System quickly reached the number one spot on Spotify’s US podcast chart, beating out popular series like The Joe Rogan Experience and Meghan Markle’s podcast, Marl’s Archetypes. The overnight success of Kim’s podcast had some people questioning the authenticity of the attention it was receiving, with some wondering if Kim had paid bots to boost her ratings on the chart.
Quinnita and Quinton Reeves, two of the survivors of the shooting, also put Kim on blast for not making any attempt to reach out to them and get their side of the story. They also accused her of twisting their testimony to better fit Kim’s narrative. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Quinita and Quinton told reporters that she doesn’t want to hear from us.
She wants to get him out to make her look better. Although Kim hasn’t released a second season of her podcast, she has continued to play lawyer online by supporting more convicts such as Larry Hoover, the founder of the Chicago street gang, The Gangster Disciples, who is currently serving six life sentences for murder, extortion, and continuing to engage in criminal enterprise.
She has also continued to advocate for other death row inmates like Rodney Reed. In 1996, 19-year-old Stacy Sight’s body was found dead in the bushes behind a high school in Texas. Authorities determined that Stacy had been beaten and before being strangled to death with her belt and set on fire sometime between 3 and 5 a.m.
While police investigated Stacy Stit’s husband as the possible killer, 19-year-old Linda Schlutoter called 911 after thwarting an attacker. Allegedly, Linda Schlutoter had agreed to give a man a ride after stopping at a market. But once they started driving, the man began to attack her while saying he would her if she failed to perform sexual acts upon him.
Linda was able to escape the vehicle and run to a passing car, leading to Rodney Reed running away. However, Rodney was detained by police after hearing Linda’s description of the man, and she subsequently picked him out of a photo lineup. At the time, Rodney was already a suspect in Stacy’s murder, as he was already being investigated for five other, including one involving a 12-year-old girl with intellectual disabilities.
However, with his latest victim surviving, investigators were able to retrieve Rodney’s DNA sample from her vehicle. And after comparing them to three sperm sites found in Stacy’s and saliva found on her chest, Rodney Reed was officially charged with the murder of Stacy Stites. Ronnie would maintain his innocence and claim in court that he didn’t even know Stacy.
But after he was confronted with DNA evidence, his story quickly changed and he claimed they were having a secret affair. Despite multiple DNA matches, placing Rodney’s sperm and saliva on Stacy Stit’s dead body, a surviving second victim who picked Rodney out of a police lineup, and investigators already considering Rodney a suspect in five other Kim Kardashian claimed that Rodney was innocent and his sentencing was another result of racism as the jury only consisted of white people.
Kim also claimed to have quote substantial evidence that would exonerate Rodney and implicate another person as the attacker. Kim Kardashian began advocating for Rodney’s release publicly by tweeting at Governor Greg Abbott. And surprisingly, it worked. Rodney Reed’s case began to receive coverage from major news outlets, and Rodney was even interviewed on an episode of Dr.
Phil despite the crime taking place 24 years prior. As the media coverage surrounding the case continued to bubble, a petition to free Rodney reportedly garnered more than 3 million signatures. And in 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals indefinitely delayed Rodney’s execution to review claims of Brady violations and false testimony.
Kim Kardashian’s attempt at becoming a lawyer and subsequent criminal activism makes sense. Her father was a lawyer and the circle she runs in is full of talented, successful people. It’s easy to imagine why Kim would want to be known for something other than just being Kim Kardashian. But if the goal was to receive public praise for freeing an innocent person, her decision to pick cases with strong DNA evidence, forensic evidence, and multiple eyewitnesses is bizarre, especially when her argument for why these people were wrongfully
convicted boils down to the jury being racist. And in the middle of that backlash, another major Kardashian milestone was approaching. Courtney’s wedding to Travis Barker. A ceremony that would spark one of the family’s most emotional and dramatic rifts. Courtney and Travis married in May 2022 in Portoino, Italy.
A lavish gothic romantic ceremony heavily styled and sponsored by Dolce and Gabbana. The wedding was drenched in the brand’s aesthetic. But barely weeks after the ceremony, Kim announced a major collaboration with Dolce and Gabbana of her own. What was framed as a business partnership immediately felt to Courtney like something else entirely.
She believed Kim had co-opted her wedding aesthetic, turning her personal moment into Kim’s brand opportunity. On the Kardashians, Courtney described feeling used, betrayed, and copy pasted, claiming the deal caused her real emotional distress, while Kim brushed it off as just business. And while the family was still navigating that fallout, another scandal hit.
This time involving nearly every Kardashian Jenner. Kim, Kylie, Khloe, Courtourtney, Kendall, Chris, and Scott Dick were named in a $40 million class action lawsuit connected to their Instagram luxury giveaways. Entrance alleged that the contests were deceptive, prizes were never delivered, and the personal data of millions of people was allegedly sold to advertisers instead.
The lawsuit accused the family of running what effectively amounted to a massive data harvesting scheme disguised as lifestyle giveaways. ; So basically the way that it works is that the brands have to pay some sort of fee. In this instance, it’s $8,500 and also give Chloe some product for her to keep.
And what’s really interesting is that it doesn’t say product also for the winners. Nowhere in the email does it say this, but I’m assuming if there are real winners, they would also have to give product for the winners. And so Chloe gets off with, you know, about $10,000 from each brand plus free products. All the participating brands are listed on another Instagram page and it’ll say everyone follow everything that this page is following for a chance to win.
And so if she has like 90 people, that’s 90 times about 10,000 plus free products. And that’s how the Kardashians scam everyone into stalking their second nursery when they have all the money in the world to afford it and also make money for some follower. ; Then came one of Kim’s most controversial stunts yet, the 2022 Met Gala.
Kim arrived wearing the original Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday Mr. President dress on loan from Ripley’s Believe It or Not. The dress, a historic artifact, was never designed to be worn again and certainly not altered to fit someone who was not Maryland. After the event, close-up photos surfaced, showing pulled seams, missing crystals, and visible damage, sparking outrage from fashion historians and museum conservators.
To many, it marked a new level of clout desperation. Kim risking the integrity of an irreplaceable piece of American fashion history for a few minutes on a red carpet. In 2022, Kloe faced backlash again. This time for allegedly facetuning photos of her daughter, noticeably lightening her skin tone, smoothing her features, and reshaping her face.
The edits went viral with critics arguing Khloe was projecting her own insecurities onto her 4-year-old child. To make matters worse, Khloe would remind her daughter on their incredibly popular television show that true wasn’t what she wanted, mentioning once again that she wanted a son instead. God gives you what you need, not what you want.
And I wanted a boy at first, and look who I got. My angel girl that I can’t live life without. ; This is when Kendall found herself in hot water again after repeatedly being photographed parking her vehicle in handicap parking spaces. ; Hey Kendall, a lot of people are upset you’re parking in the handicap spot. What do you say to people that are kind of upset about this? only stopping after being called out for it multiple times just to begin parking in the fire lane instead.
; Hey Kendall, what made you decide not to park in the handicap spot? ; Following this, Kim appeared on the cover of Vogue and what should have been another routine fashion moment immediately detonated into public backlash. The shoot featured Kim with dramatically darkened skin, heavily contouring, and styling that many viewers felt mimicked the aesthetic of prominent black women.
Two of the photos in particular drew outrage. One that looked strikingly similar to an iconic portrait of Nina Simone and another that echoed a well-known Beyonce editorial image. Critics accused Kim of blackfishing and racial mimicry, arguing that she had built an entire career, shifting her appearance to mirror features of the black women whose culture she claims to admire.
Making it worse, the issue dropped in February, Black History Month. The timing made the accusations feel even more pointed, and the conversation about the Kardashians racehifting prosthetic clout resurfaced with new intensity. And while Kim was fending off criticism over the Vogue shoot, Kylie was dealing with a scandal of her own.
Rumors began circulating that Travis Scott had been cheating on her. Allegations that wouldn’t go away, especially after fans began resurfacing past claims and online evidence tying him to another woman. This all started after an Instagram model posted a behind-the-scenes photo of Travis Scott at a music video shoot.
Fans were quick to question why she was there, and Travis made a statement on his Instagram story claiming he doesn’t know who she is. She wasn’t invited, and she was sneaking photos. The model Ro quickly clapped back with a series of videos that claimed she wasn’t just invited, but that Travis had known her for some time.
to say you don’t know me and you’ve never been with me when you’ve definitely been with me when everybody’s seen you with me when I have pictures and videos of you with me. Sleuths found this lead and were quick to find evidence of Travis and Ro being together as far back as 2013. And this wasn’t just one connection. She’s been there the whole time.
There are dozens of photos posted over the years, ranging from Rose sitting on Travis’s car, Travis shoes laying in her house, and even a birthday ski trip Travis allegedly took her on one month after Kylie gave birth to his first child. To make matters worse, Ro even claimed that Travis cheating on Kylie is an open secret all of Los Angeles is aware of, and that their relationship is nothing more than a PR stunt.
You cheat on that every single night. The whole city sees it. I really hope your PR stunt happy family goes well and the whole world buys it even though you’re the human being. ; But this is where we go off the deep end. After some more digging, fans didn’t just notice how far back Travis and Rose’s relationship went. They learned they have promise rings for each other.
And Travis had even been bringing her around Kylie for some time. For example, Ro can be seen in a video Kylie posted of a party she threw for Travis, and both of them joined Travis at Kanye’s Sunday service. But here’s the part that recontextualizes everything. Kylie herself seemed to know about Ro. Once she started dating Travis, her style began to resemble hers, just as she mirrored Black Chyna when she was dating Taigga.
Except this time, she went further, even altering her body to match the aesthetic. The picture these revelations paint is more sad than scandalous. Maybe the relationship with Travis was nothing more than PR, but from the outside, it looks like Kylie was desperately trying to hold on to him, reshaping her body and style to match his desires while he was taking Ro on a ski trip as Kylie recovered from labor.
After posting a photo wearing a watch with the caption, “Tell your baby daddy I said thanks,” Ro revealed that Kylie had blocked her on Instagram. However, despite row airing out all of Travis and Kylie’s dirty laundry on Instagram, Kylie would ultimately take him back. Around the same time, French media outlets began circulating an unverified rumor alleging that Rob Kardashian had suffered an overdose.
The story spread quickly online, largely because Rob had already withdrawn from public life, but no credible outlet ever confirmed it. Still, the fact that the rumor gained traction at all reflected how absent Rob had become and how the public had no real sense of where he was or how he was doing.
Then, in September 2022, one of the family’s oldest scandals exploded back into the spotlight. Ray J, Kim’s ex and co-star of the infamous 2007 tape went live on Instagram and revealed the original contracts, claiming that Kim and Chris weren’t just aware of the tape, they were active participants in orchestrating its release.
You have with the wrong person. I was just going to handle this legally, right? And just hit you in court and just get what I’m deserve from all of y’all being foul and trying to defame me, trying to make me look bad. in 1 hour. I’m having them send everything I got. We going through receipts tonight, Chris. We going through receipts tonight, Kim.
Everything that I got, I’m going to let him see. ; According to Ray J, he had been used as the permanent fall guy, while the Kardashians publicly framed him as the villain. He accused Chris of reviewing and approving footage and argued that the narrative that Kim was victimized by the leak was a calculated PR move to boost her early image and brand.
Y’all think y’all could just everybody over and it’s okay? Think about all the time she was crying and like praying on other people’s like realities of what really happened to them. But then for her she just lying and praying on on on people’s emotions to feel sorry for her. Like ; for what it’s worth to date it’s estimated that the tape made over $100 million, easily making it the highest grossing adult tape of all time.
In an email acquired by TMZ from Vivid Entertainment’s founder Steve Hirs, we can see the tape made $1.4 million in its first month alone. And this is far before the height of the Kardashian Empire. ; Ray, it’s Kim. I just want you to know that I think you are so disgusting and desperate.
I think you’re honestly a sick human being and you’re just so disgusting. have fun with old tag Whitney Houston. Like she’s so sick and like crack is definitely not whack with you guys. She’s so old and sick and you are just sick and desperate. So leave me the alone and stop calling me. I hate you. Around this time, Kim purchased a GFream jet for $95 million.
However, after receiving the jet, she reportedly outfitted the aircraft with custom modifications, including a cashmere interior and a second bathroom that skyrocketed its reported value to an eyewatering $150 million. Kim’s private jet, affectionately named Kimair, has constantly come under scrutiny by fans for her gross display of wealth as well as its negative environmental impact.
According to myclimate.org’s carbon emission tracker, in 2023, Kimir was responsible for dumping 5,857,600 kg or just under 13 million lb of CO2 into the atmosphere across 165 flights, making her the second highest offender in the United States, only second to Travis Scott, and ahead of people like Elon Musk, Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Bill Gates.
To put it into perspective, the average person globally emits 8,000 lbs of CO2 each year, meaning Kim’s flights alone emitted 1,625 years worth of expected CO2 emissions in just one year. To make matters worse, some of the 165 flights she took in 2013 were just 10 minutes long and happened as often as five times a day. According to flight trackers, she once flew from Nevada to California, back to Nevada, back to California, then to Arizona, just to return to California all in one day across 3 hours and 48 minutes of flying. Fans couldn’t help but notice
the irony considering her public commitment to environmental causes with her business ventures. For example, her brand Skiims claims they quote only work with suppliers and vendors who we believe in and share our commitment to sustainability, accountability, and transparency. Skiims also claimed that 10% of their ultimate nipple bra proceeds would go to 1% for the planet, an organization dedicated to global environmental causes.
Kim promoted this product by saying, “The sea levels are rising, the ice sheets are shrinking, and I’m not a scientist, but I do believe everyone can use their skill set to do their part.” That’s why I’m introducing a brand new nipple bra with a built-in nipple. So, no matter how hot it is, you’ll always look cold. Fans found this to be in bad taste, considering her private jet pollutes the environment more in one year than most people will in their lifetime.
However, Kim was raising more eyebrows after she bragged live on the Today Show that her daughter scams people via a lemonade stand where she sells lemonade for $2 per cup. And then after taking their money, she claims to not have any change and keeps however much they handed her. This was meant to be a cute story, but given Kim’s history, it came across as more out of touch than anything.
Around this time, Kylie quietly split from Travis Scott. And with Travis out of the picture, she needed to find a way to be seen. That’s why fans were suspicious when just 4 months after her breakup with Travis Scott, she was seen getting close to actor Timothy Shalamé. TMZ, Daily Mail, People, and Entertainment Tonight all began reporting on Kylie’s romance with Timothy, leading many to believe this was a fake PR relationship set up to make Kylie relevant again.
And to their credit, it worked. Suddenly, Kylie was attending concerts, the US Open, and even the Golden Globes with her new boyfriend. But the relationship itself felt curated more than authentic. Their public appearances were heavy on PDA with cameras catching them making out at nearly every event.
And as if to complete the cycle, Kylie began drawing comparisons to Timothy’s ex-girlfriend, Lily Rose Depp, mimicking her fashion choices and aesthetic, much like she had with Tiger’s ex and Travis Scott’s ex. Kylie was even caught liking photos Lily had posted four years earlier, leading fans to accuse her of doing research.
But this time it went further and felt a little stranger. She didn’t just borrow Lily’s style, she overhauled her entire aesthetic. After years of dating black men, Kylie had built an image around bold, hypersexualized fashion. But the moment she was linked to a white man, that image shifted.
She began dressing more conservatively, trading the flashy King Kylie persona for something closer to traditional white girl chic. Even her skin tone appeared lighter than at any other point in her adult life. On top of that, she started trading, sharing videos of herself gardening, cooking, and playing up domestic aesthetics.
The rebrand was so obvious that even fan pages began pointing it out, calling her out for abandoning one persona just to copy another. The reinvention may have kept her in headlines, but it didn’t shield her from criticism. As Kylie and Timothy continued to step out together, a new wave of backlash started brewing, this time about her appearance.
At red carpets and public events, fans remarked that Kylie looked far older than her actual age of 27, with some comparing her to women in their 40s or even 50s. The reason wasn’t hard to pinpoint. Years of heavy cosmetic work were starting to catch up to her. Fillers, Botox, and surgeries that once gave her a hyper polished look now left her looking overworked and prematurely aged.
A sharp contrast to the youthful image she was still trying to sell. If the age discourse wasn’t enough, the next chapter of Kylie and Timothy’s relationship leaned hard into hypersexual PR. Kylie started making thinly veiled references online, like saying she needed the Nicks to win a game so Tim would have sex with her or posting photos of Nick’s colored lingerie packed neatly in her suitcase.
Soon after, articles began circulating about how much she was enjoying her sex life with Tim. But instead of sounding natural, the coverage read like forced publicity. The National Enquirer quoted a so-called insider who claimed Timothy had quote succeeded in making her forget every other man she’s been with, and that Kylie had been fulfilling his appetites like none of his previous girlfriends or flings.
The source even suggested Kylie had to keep up with him. And if that meant threesomes or x-rated adventures, she was better off being there than letting Timmy off the leash. It didn’t help that the same source tried to frame Kylie as a conservative woman with a religious upbringing. A description fans immediately rejected.
To many, it all felt contrived, more like Kylie shouting, “Look at me. Look how edgy I am.” than anything authentic. The story line read as desperation for headlines, which is exactly why so many people were convinced the relationship itself was just PR designed to keep both of them relevant.
Meanwhile, despite their explosive breakup, Rob Kardashian and Black Chyna eventually settled into a surprisingly peaceful co-parenting relationship with China telling the press that time heals everything, signaling that the chaos between them had finally cooled. After everything we’ve seen, the pattern becomes hard to ignore.
This wasn’t a family reacting to fame. It was a family designed to create it. Chris Jenner didn’t just raise children. She raised brands. She figured out early on that attention could be converted into money and that controversy was the fastest way to stay relevant. The more intense the headlines, the more valuable the name became.
And that formula worked over and over again, even when it came at the expense of her kid’s well-being. Kylie was barely a teenager when she was first linked to Taigga. The age gap, the way the media handled it, and the family’s complete lack of concern, all should have been alarming. But instead of protecting her, they treated it like an inevitability because the attention was massive, and it launched her into a different orbit.
From Tumblr posts to lip kits, everything she did became clickable. And when the world finally caught up and asked questions, it didn’t matter. She was already too famous to touch. That’s the thing. Once the narrative is locked in, the damage doesn’t matter. The harm doesn’t stop the story. If anything, it fuels the next act.
We’ve seen it with Kendall, too. Her modeling career was handed to her. Her attitude was protected. Her worst behavior was quietly brushed aside. Rude to service workers, dismissive on camera, and yet the industry kept calling. No matter how many people had better portfolios or more experience, she stayed booked because the Kardashian machine had already decided she was the model, and the world just adjusted.
Kim has done this so many times, it barely registers anymore. She’s mastered the art of revision. She’ll push one narrative until it cracks, then pivot into another like nothing happened. She was the underdog, then the mogul, then the mother, then the lawyer. She’ll preach sustainability while racking up private jet miles.
She’ll sell body acceptance while filtering her kids. She’s not trying to be consistent. She’s trying to be everywhere. Even Rob, who tried to step away, couldn’t escape the machine. He disappeared, came back, and then disappeared again. His mental health, his weight, and his relationships were all fair game for public consumption.
When he finally exploded and things got ugly with Black Chyna, the family just kept moving. The engine didn’t stop because it never does. Scandal is not a threat to the family. It’s a tool. They take it, clean it up, repackage it, and keep going. When backlash gets loud, they go quiet. When people start forgetting, they show back up with a new look, a new boyfriend, a new product, and a new angle.
It’s not survival, it’s strategy. And it works because the audience is in on it. Somewhere along the way, people stopped expecting authenticity and started tuning in for the cycle. We know it’s fake. We know the story lines are curated, but we keep watching anyway because no matter how cynical it gets, it’s still entertaining.
The family didn’t just learn how to stay famous. They rewired how fame works. They taught an entire generation that being watched is more important than being respected. that having a platform matters more than having a point. And if you spin the narrative long enough, it doesn’t matter where it started. The thing is, you can’t manufacture that kind of influence without consequences.
And eventually, people forget or they just get tired. The outrage fades. The next launch happens and the cycle starts over. The family doesn’t need our approval. They just need our attention. They’ve learned how to survive every kind of controversy and not just survive it, but own it, monetize it, weaponize it.
The worst thing that can happen to a Kardashian isn’t a scandal, it’s silence. Because when the machine goes quiet, that’s when it stops working. And it hasn’t gone quiet yet.
