Kardashian slammed for party amid COVID-19
Much of Kim Kardashian’s fame rests on her ability to flaunt her extravagant lifestyle while also coming across as a public figure who is still relatable to regular people and who cares about the challenges of the less fortunate.
But on Tuesday, Kardashian displayed none of her usual PR skills in keeping her crass self-promoting in check, when she shared a series of tweets that showed her celebrating her 40th birthday by hosting her famous friends and family members on a private tropical island vacation.
In the tweets, she tried to somehow come across as in sync with regular people who have missed out on “normal” activities like going on vacations or gathering with family due to COVID-19 shelter-inplace restrictions.
But people responding to her tweets overwhelmingly said her messages and photos were horrifically tone- deaf and insensitive to the day-to- day realities of Americans, who have lost jobs, can’t go to school and have missed out on celebrating important rites of passage and spending time with family and friends.
Kardashian began her thread by writing: Before COVID, I don’t think any of us truly appreciated what a simple luxury it was to be able to travel and be together with family and friends in a safe environment. She continued: “After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time.”
“We danced, rode bikes, swam near whales, kayaked, watched a movie on the beach and so much more,” she concluded. “I realize that for most people, this is something that is so far out of reach right now, so in moments like these, I am humbly reminded of how privileged my life is. # thisis40.”
People zeroed in how how Kardashian described the “simple luxury” of being able to travel and get together with family and friends. People pointed out that they, unlike Kardashian, don’t have the time, money or resources to quarantine, organize health screenings and fly their family and friends to a private island. But people also were astounded by Kardashian’s statement about her “privileged” life. She described herself as humble and acknowledged that such privilege is “out of reach” for most people right now. But this claim of humility and gratitude came in the same tweet in which she waxed on about swimming near whales and hanging out on the beach.