‘SELFISH’ KIM HURT BY BLAZE BACKLASH
With the negativity surrounding Kim Kardashian reaching a new level, the star’s panicking her husband is to blame
She bore the brunt of yet another backlash last week after it was revealed she and husband Kanye West paid private firefighters to save their £46m mansion amid the devastating blaze that swept through Los Angeles earlier this month – leading to a death toll of 79 and causing thousands to lose their homes.
PUBLIC OUTCRY
And fans were quick to blast Kim Kardashian, 38, dubbing her “selfish” and “disgusting” for hiring emergency services to save her Hidden Hills home, while so many others suffered. One wrote online, “Very sad. I didn’t even think the Kardashians could get any lower.” While another said, “These ‘private’ firefighters have a higher duty to protect everyone, not just Kim and her fancy neighbours. It’s disgusting.”
The public outcry continued, with one post reading, “How selfish. Only for their house. So these private firefighters do it for money and have allowed the poor people’s houses to burn down. They can’t replace them like these low-life celebs.” Another said, “So Kim tweets God is good after paying private firefighters to save her home. How is that showing God is good. That’s insulting to the other people who lost their lives and homes in this tragedy. God wasn’t good to them.”
But friends insisted it was part of Kim’s household insurance policy to deploy private firefighters to save her home, as well as many of her neighbours’ properties.
A source says, “Kim was incredibly hurt that among all the devastation, she was then attacked for trying to save her family home – despite the private firefighters saving so many others, too. Kim and her family have donated thousands to the fire service, and helped to appeal for more donations, so to be so cruelly slammed once again and feel guilty for having her house saved came as a low blow.”
HITTING BACK
Last week, Kim appeared to react to the negativity when she revealed on The Ellen Degeneres Show that, on behalf of Kanye, his clothing brand Yeezy and Adidas were donating over £156,000 to the California Firefighters and another £156,000 to the California Wildfire Relief Fund.
She previously Tweeted that all profits from the sale of tracksuit bottoms from Kanye’s Yeezy line would be donated to a firefighter charity and community fund.
The reality star – who’s worth £269m – donated £350,000 to the victims of Hurricane
❛TO BE SLAMMED FOR SAVING HER FAMILY HOME WAS A LOW BLOW❜
Harvey in Houston last year and regularly volunteers at the Children’s Hospital in LA, where she’s an ambassador.
But Kim – who has North, five, Saint, two, and 11-monthold Chicago with her rapper husband – has come under constant attack over the past couple of years. There were unsubstantial claims that she’d even faked her terrifying armed robbery in Paris in 2016, then she was slammed for using a surrogate to have Chicago and has faced constant criticism over her body image.
And friends say the mum-ofthree fears her husband is at the root of the increasing negativity around her, which is damaging her reputation. The loose-lipped rapper, 41, caused a stir earlier this year when he said slavery was a “choice” and hinted at marital woes between him and his wife in his single Wouldn’t Leave, which included the lyrics, “My wife callin’ screaming, say we bout to lose it all. Had to calm her down ’cause she couldn’t breathe. Told her she could leave me now but she wouldn’t leave.”
He’s continued to stirup drama with his support of America’s controversial President, Donald Trump, but has recently backtracked, with sources telling Closer that Kim was behind his change of heart.
Insiders told Closer how Kim was attempting to manage her husband and even planned to stage a separation from him in a bid to distance herself from him in public, but neither of the plans appeared to work.
DAMAGED
Last week, singer Azealia Banks, 27, hit out at Kim on Instagram, claiming she has “ruined” Kanye and that she’ll leave him. To add to the negative attention, days later, Kim revealed she “gets in trouble” with Kanye when she posts revealing pics on social media. But pals say she’s now trying to have more of a voice and prove she doesn’t always agree with her husband’s opinions.
The source adds, “Kim fears her reputation has been severely damaged by Kanye, but short of divorcing him, she’s at her wits’ end on what to do.
“She’s trying to speak up more to win the public back around, including speaking out when she disagrees with her husband. And she hopes that by posting less couple snaps on her social media and being far more low-key instead of flaunting themselves as a power couple, it will help prove to the public that they’re two separate individuals, with two very separate views. She insists she shouldn’t be tarnished with the same brush as him.”