Kim Kardashian, love or hate her, is a ridiculously famous person. And being famous means people want your opinion on things. Bari Weiss, the controversial former New York Times writer, is acutely aware of this and wanted to talk to the reality show star about fame and her motivations.
It turns out Kardashian has her fair share of those, especially when it comes to so-called cancel culture.
Weiss asked Kardashian straight up about cultural appropriation.
“You’ve occasionally been accused of cultural appropriation for hairstyles or costumes that you’ve worn. I remember once there was an uproar because people felt that the Instagram filter that you used was too dark,” Weiss said. “But on occasion, you’ve responded to these critics, sometimes even making a big change. After a lot of criticism about the name of your shapewear company—it was originally called Kimono—you changed it to SKIMS. How do you decide when to respond and when to protect yourself against the outrage-addicts online?”
Kardashian said when it comes to that topic, she never wants to take anything lightly, regardless of her intentions (which she says are good).
In the instance of Kimono and changing that name, it was an innocent name that the team came up with. But when I got a letter from the Japanese officials, I took it extremely seriously. It wasn’t even a question. I immediately halted production, and there were a lot of pieces in production. I said, “Give me a week,” and I had to think of a new name. Anyone that is starting a business knows how difficult it is to come up with a name and the trademarking and everything, but it just wasn’t an option not to.
However, Kardashian said, if she worried about “every last thing someone said,” she would never be herself.
That’s why I think cancel culture is the most ridiculous thing, because I really do believe—and you and I have been at several dinners together where people are discussing their thoughts on it—in rehabilitation and freedom of speech. I’ve never really been into cancel culture.
Alright, so cancel culture is ridiculous to Kardashian. She does elaborate a little bit.
I believe that if we cancel someone for something that they had done or said in their past, then we’re not inviting them into the conversation to really understand. It depends on the situation. You might not care if it’s absolutely ridiculous. But it’s a fine line. It’s what you were asking in the original question: When do you let something go? And when do you have thick skin and not care what people say about you?
She goes on to say that “The more that I don’t care about fame, the less I care to correct people.”
I don’t really care what people think about me, but there’s some times where I say, “OK, I completely understand how you would feel like this is disrespectful, and I will absolutely change this.” I always own up to the mistakes that I make and I try not to make them again. That’s just how I live my life. But I think if you don’t have these conversations with people, how are they ever going to change something that isn’t right?
There are some other gems in the article as well. Apparently, Kardashian tried to dissuade Kanye West, walking proof that cancel culture isn’t real, from wearing a MAGA hat on Saturday Night Live. And Kardashian also loves Hoarders. Maybe she’ll make a cameo one day; the woman does own plenty of stuff.
