Whether you love them or hate them, the Kardashian-Jenner family has established itself as a major cultural force. And much of their fame comes from fans who believe that these people are relatable figures.
Sometimes, though, we get a stark reminder that the Kardashian-Jenners are completely out-of-touch. Don’t believe it? Here are the top eight times that the Kardashian-Jenner family proved they were completely out of touch!
Kim goes berserk over a lost earring
The Kardashian-Jenners proving themselves out of touch isn’t exactly new. In fact, we got our first real glimpse of this back in season six of their show Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
During that season, Kim lost an earring in the ocean. This uninsured, $75,000 earring came from her future husband (and future ex-husband) Kris Humphries, and Kim was distraught that she lost it.
“My earring’s gone, f***. Oh my gosh, I’m gonna cry, my diamond earring,” Kim said.
Family members like her mother Kris Jenner were sympathetic, but her sister Kourtney wasted no time telling her she was overreacting. “Kim,” she said, “there’s people that are dying.”
And Kourtney was quite right. It’s tough to feel sympathetic to a celebrity who lost a piece of jewelry worth more than what most families make in a year!
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Kim promotes appetite suppressant lollipops
You might think these kinds of scandals are a thing of the past for the Kardashians. But Kim managed to turn half the internet against her in 2018 thanks to an out-of-touch product endorsement.
Kim took to Instagram to promote a special lollipop from Flat Tummy. She shared an image of herself sucking on a lollipop. Her caption promoted a sale the company was having. “They’re Appetite Suppressant Lollipops and they’re literally unreal,” she wrote.
Fans and critics alike pointed out that by pushing an “appetite suppressant,” Kim was effectively championing eating disorders and pushing the idea that her followers must look a certain way at all costs.
It got so bad that The Good Place star Jameela Jamil called Kim out for a “terrible and toxic influence on young girls” in a since-deleted tweet. This wouldn’t be her last brush with the Kardashians either, with Jamil later calling out Khloé Kardashian for promoting weight-loss shakes.
Still, none of this was nearly as embarrassing as the Kardashian Kard.
The Kardashians launch their own credit card
It makes a kind of sense that the Kardashians would promote things like appetite-suppressants and weight-loss shakes to their many fans. But would you believe they also tried to get those fans to sign up for a shady credit card?
In 2010, they tried to launch a prepaid credit card known as (what else?) the Kardashian Kard. However, they had to scrap the whole thing just a few weeks after it launched.
Why scrap it? First, much of their teenage demographic couldn’t afford to pay $99.95 a year simply to use a branded credit card. And that doesn’t include a monthly fee of $7.95 and other hidden fees intended to nickel-and-dime users.
Most Kardashian fans were smart enough to realize they could get the same kind of card for free and dodge those monthly fees and hidden fees altogether!
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Kendall stars in a tone deaf Pepsi commercial
It’s usually messy when celebrities get involved with politics. But when Kendall Jenner got involved, things quickly went from “messy” to “downright disastrous.”
In April 2017, she starred in a Pepsi ad that depicted #BlackLivesMatter protests. In the ad, protestors have taken to the streets and are approaching a wall of grim-faced police officers. But the officers smile and the protestors cheer after Kendall gives one of the policemen a can of Pepsi.
The main issue with the ad is that it is completely tone deaf. Not only does it channel #BlackLivesMatter protests while ignoring the serious discussions about racism and systemic injustice, but the implication that police violence can be avoided by buying cops a Pepsi is utterly insane.
Not as insane as supporting Kanye for president, though!
Kourtney sells ‘Vote Kanye’ hats
2020 was such a crazy year that it’s easy to forget Kanye West attempted to run for president. And Kourtney Kardashian actually supported her brother-in-law so much that it caused quite a controversy online!
In October 2020, mere weeks before the election, Kourtney posted an Instagram Story of herself wearing a “Vote Kanye” hat and went so far as to push this merch on her lifestyle website Poosh. So, what’s the problem with Kourtney doing this?
The simple fact is that third-party candidates for president never win in America. And when a Democrat or Republican loses, many of their supporters often blame the loss on votes that went to a third-party candidate.
Kanye ultimately dropped out of the race, but Kourtney encouraging her 102 million followers to vote for Kanye came off as a selfish marketing move that failed to take one of the most important elections of our time seriously.
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Kylie responds to the ‘Kylie Jenner Challenge’
Kylie Jenner has built a cosmetics empire based around the popularity of her Lip Kits, which promise fans the perfect “Kylie lip.”
However, Kylie’s famously plump lips are not the result of “Lip Kits” (which merely include a lipstick and lip liner), but rather the result of injecting lip fillers.
Many fans online either loved Kylie Jenner’s lip fillers or thought they were funny. This led to the “Kylie Jenner Challenge” in 2015, in which fans sucked the air out of a cup until their swollen lips looked more like Jenner’s. Fans then posted their pics online, but this challenge also led to many bruised and injured lips.
In response to her fans injuring themselves, Kylie tweeted, “I want to encourage people/young girls like me to be YOURSELF & not be afraid to experiment w your look.”
Telling people to “be yourself” isn’t exactly controversial, but after doctors reported that the challenge could lead to permanent disfigurement, many chided Kylie for not directly speaking out against it.
But as Kim would eventually learn, there comes a time to keep your lips (filled or otherwise) closed!
Kim asks fans how to keep her kids entertained during the pandemic
As we said before, part of the Kardashians’ appeal to fans is that they are relatable. And Kim Kardashian likes to keep that appearance up by interacting with her fans. Sometimes, though, it really blows up in her face.
Back when COVID-19 lockdowns first went into effect in March 2020, Kim posed fans a question on Instagram: “What is everyone doing to keep your kids entertained???” Later, she would post and ask about “fun ideas” for things to do during the pandemic.
Fans and critics quickly pointed out that her massive home is full of entertaining distractions. This includes things like a home theater and a basketball court. In other words, if she’s getting bored in one of the world’s fanciest mansions, her fans wondered what the hell kind of advice she was really expecting them to offer!
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Kim rents a private island for her 40th birthday
Kim Kardashian’s early-pandemic Instagram post may have been tone deaf. But her later actions during the pandemic were completely irresponsible and out of touch.
To celebrate her 40th birthday in October 2020, Kim rented a private island and flew over 20 family members to it. She insisted that everyone get tested for COVID-19 ahead of time. But that didn’t stop the public from getting mad at her when she gushed about the vacation on social media.
On Instagram, Kim wrote, “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. 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.”
People wasted no time at all reminding her that flying off to a private island in the middle of a pandemic is about as far from “normal” as it gets. And there is nothing “humble” about the extreme wealth and privilege that brought her to that island.