Meet Kim Kardashian 2.0
The reality star and make-up mogul is said to be using her celebrity for a bigger purpose now
As Kim Kardashian West put it to her 60 million-plus followers on Twitter, the call she made to Alice Marie Johnson “will forever be one of my best memories.”
It was the reality star and make-up mogul who brought the 63-year-old Johnson first word of her freedom after more than two decades in federal prison on 1996 drug convictions related to a Memphis-based cocaine trafficking operation.
Johnson wasn’t eligible for parole, but the TV star met with the former reality TV boss, President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office after learning of Johnson’s plight online. Soon after, Trump commuted her sentence — and the tears flowed.
“Telling her for the first time and hearing her screams while crying together is a moment I will never forget,” offered Kardashian West, long a social media influencer with a legion of dedicated supporters.
Kardashian West has expanded her reach in ways some might have thought unlikely. Johnson’s release Wednesday came two days after Kardashian West accepted an influencer award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America before a star-studded crowd, joking she considered the honour ironic “since I’m naked most of the time.”
Kardashian West has been hailed as a hero for pushing hard in Johnson’s case. “I think that it’s great she’s using her influence in this way,” said Ashley Edwards, senior news and politics editor at the site Refinery29. “I’m not sure if there’s anything she can’t do with the amount of clout she has.”
In a way, Edwards noted, the 37-year-old’s move to action in Johnson’s case could be seen as a natural follow-up to troubles in her own life.
“She said after her robbery (in a Paris hotel) she realised that material
things don’t mean as much to her as they used to. She can go to the store and spend $40,000 (Dh146,900) on a necklace or a shirt and it doesn’t really fulfil her in the same way that it used to. And I think now that she’s the mother of three, she’s older now and realises there’s more to life than material things and she is using her celebrity With President Donald Trump at the Oval Office on Wednesday.
for a bigger purpose.”
For Kardashian West and Trump, was the alliance a risk?
“She’s looking at the bigger picture. She had to work with the administration even if she doesn’t agree with everything he stands for,” Edwards said. “It is a risk for her on one level since a lot of her fans are liberal, a lot of people do not like Donald Trump, but I think a lot of those people now realise we can’t just say that on issues like this.”
Holley has known Kardashian West since she was a child. She said the Johnson release is just the beginning for her famous client, who paid to retain lawyers in the effort. The two spent about 20 minutes with Trump last week before he took action to free Johnson, but they had put wheels in motion months ago, back in October.
Kardashian West “definitely” will continue to work on criminal justice issues, Holley said.
People magazine’s deputy editor, DJ Heyman, said Kardashian West’s success marked a shining “singular achievement and the best use of her influence.”
“Telling Alice [about commutation of her sentence] and hearing her screams is a moment I will never forget.” KIM KARDASHIAN WEST | Reality star