Elahe Izadi
Before last Sunday’s midseason premiere of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, showing in the UAE on E!, members of the reality TV family did what they always do: tweeted teasers promoting the show. Khloe is thinking about breast augmentation! Rob isn’t coming to the party planned for him! But as the E! series returned with new episodes, the central persona remains notably absent on social media. Kim Kardashian West, who has made documenting her most personal moments the bedrock of her career, has been silent since a robbery earlier this month in Paris. After the robbery, filming of new episodes was put on hiatus, with a network spokesperson saying “Kim’s well-being is our core focus right now.”
Some family members have resumed “limited filming” while “full production has yet to resume,” a network spokesperson said late last week. The flagship reality show is just one part of the massive Kardashian empire. Kardashian West has figured out how to make a lot of money by giving up her privacy.
So what does it look like when someone like Kardashian West unplugs from social media?
The reality star once would step out into the street totally glammed up, as paparazzi cameras captured her latest outfit. She would then post the photos on her site and explain how people could achieve the look.
Now the photos we see of Kardashian West are of her in a hooded sweatshirt as she tries to discreetly enter a restaurant. There haven’t been updates on her subscription-based website and app for weeks, her assistant Stephanie Sheppard posted last week. Sheppard wrote the reality star “is taking some muchneeded time off,” and the site and app would be updated with content from her “closest friends, fam and yours truly”.
The most we’ve seen of Kardashian West is the video her husband Kanye West posted in honour of her birthday on Friday. Something so sweet and sentimental would normally elicit a public response from Kardashian West. This time, her family chimed in and posted those updates. It appears these surrogates will continue trying to satisfy fans while the reality star continues her retreat from the public eye. But when your career is made in the spotlight, how long can you stay out of it?
—Washington Post