Has the latest backlash finished the kardashians?
The Kardashian brand suffers humiliation after Kendall’s £5m Pepsi ad is pulled following huge criticism Kylie launches new reality show as KUWTK ratings plummet Kim takes over as manager as the family fall into crisis
They are the queens of scandal, turning every break-up, pregnancy and health scare into a money-making publicity opportunity for the Kardashian empire – now worth an incredible £270 million.
And for the past decade it appeared to work. After the release of Kim Kardashian’s sex tape in 2007, her family – including mum Kris, 61, sisters Kourtney, 38, and Khloe, 32, and half-sisters Kendall, 21, and Kylie, 19 – were catapulted to global fame. Everything they touched appeared to turn to gold.
But it’s becoming clear their A-list power is starting to crumble.
ADVERT CONTROVERSY
After Kendall fronted Pepsi’s latest £5m advert – which showed her calming a protest by handing a can of Pepsi to a police officer – it debuted to an ambush of criticism for seeming to trivialise the recent #Blacklivesmatter protest and was pulled after one day. Fans labelled Kendall “stupid” for failing to see that the ad was disrespectful.
Last week, Khloe appeared on the cover of a magazine talking about her dreams of having a child, but rather than fans praising her, as they did previously, she received vicious criticism online. One fan wrote: “Well… Any kid that’s brought up in that family will likely carry on the family legacy of being a self-absorbed narcissistic twit… Also, it will not bring us closer to the postkardashian world we all hope for.” Another added: “How elegant of Khloe K… thrusting her fat-injected butt in everyone’s face. Beyond sick of this family.”
RATINGS DISASTER
Insiders say relentless negativity towards them has thrown the entire family into a panic.
A source says: “The whole family is down at the moment. Kris always instilled in them that one day their time would be up – and now they’re seeing it play out as she’d predicted. They’re scared the public have lost interest in them and their worst fears are happening.”
The first family of reality TV’S power has been gradually unravelling over the past six
months. Ratings for KUWTK have plummeted, with their latest season premiere having the lowest viewing figures since 2008. Not even the muchanticipated robbery episode, where Kim revealed what happened when she was robbed in Paris last year, could garner more than 1.58m viewers. In comparison, 10.5m people tuned in to watch Kim marry Kris Humphries in 2015.
Kim, who is mum to North, three, and Saint, one, with rapper Kanye West, received a barrage of unsympathetic comments following the heist in October, claiming her openness on social media was why she was attacked.
And in November, Closer reported she was hurt by the insensitive response, particularly by Hollywood A-listers Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Kimmel, who openly mocked her ordeal.
In her interview published last week, Khloe said: “I get angry when people blame her for the robbery – I think that is the most irresponsible accusation. I don’t care how little or how much you have, nobody deserves to be violated, robbed, assaulted and traumatised.”
SAVING THE BRAND
Experts believe their overexposure is also a contributing factor in the downfall of the Kardashians, and because they’ve gone from belfies to sex tapes, there’s little left to shock.
Last week, Kylie announced the launch of her own reality show, Life Of Kylie, set to air this summer. Pals say it’s a last-ditch attempt to save the brand.
A source says: “Kris has been stepping back as momager and Kim is taking over. She’s told them they have to keep their heads up. Kylie’s show is an attempt to save the brand, but Kim is plotting things out. She keeps saying that the public can never kill off the Kardashians.”