There’s a reason why she’s listed as one of the most trending celebrities! Kim Kardashian is no stranger to controversy.
Every move she makes seems to steal the headlines and trend on Twitter. Whether she’s posing for a racy photoshoot or fighting someone, Kim has the power to shake the world and break the internet. It happens so often (“oh what’s Kim done now?”), it’s hardly a surprise anymore when she causes an online kommotion.
Is it her full-time job to get the people talking? From booties to backlash, here are Kim Kardashian’s craziest and controversial moments so far…
1. Her Tape with Ray J Leaks
Kim has been bringing the controversy since day one. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock all this time, you’re probably aware that Kim landed in the spotlight and made the Kardashian family famous with an adult tape. She filed a lawsuit against Vivid Entertainment who leaked the clip, but later dropped it and settled for a reported $5 million.
2. Kim Poses for Playboy
She may have been embarrassed after her tape leaked, but it certainly didn’t stop her from posing for Playboy. Relatively famous at the time, Kim Kardashian instantly became the talk of the town when she graced the magazine’s cover in 2007. Indeed she was “Hollywood’s New Sex Star”.
3. She Covers Turkish Cosmopolitan on Genocide Day
Kim was accused of disrespecting her heritage when her cover for Turkish Cosmopolitan debuted on Armenia’s annual Genocide Remembrance Day – which marks the systematic extermination of the Armenian population by Turkey during and following World War I.
Kim took to her blog to address the situation by saying, “Cosmopolitan Magazine has a number of international editions all around the world that run in various territories, and when I did this shoot for the international covers I had no idea that Turkey was planning to run my story on their cover THIS month, considering Genocide Remembrance Day is this month.
“My Armenian heritage means a lot to me and I’ve been brought up to be incredibly proud of my family’s background and culture so as an Armenian-American woman it is a huge honour for me to be on the first ever Armenian Cosmopolitan cover.”
4. Kim Slams Indian Food
Kim was slandered after she branded Indian curry “disgusting” on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. One person even said, “I think it’s good Kim doesn’t like Indian food, because that means she won’t ever visit India and that in itself is a blessing.”
Kim later addressed the issue saying, “Just Want to Clear Something Up. In NO way was [my comment] intended as an insult to the Indian people or their culture. This is just my own personal taste. There are a lot of foods I don’t like . . . I hate cilantro [coriander] and peppers, and there are definitely some Armenian foods that I personally find disgusting, but that doesn’t reflect my opinions on other Armenian people or my culture. My comment wasn’t intended to offend anybody. We all have our own opinions and tastes and I was simply expressing mine.”
5. She Releases a Single
She’s got her KKW cosmetics line, her own perfumes, a clothing deal and believe it or not, she even almost had a record deal. No, really. Call her crazy but Kim did indeed try out the music industry back in 2011 when she released her cringe, hilarious and outright ridiculous single, Jam. As if the song wasn’t embarrassing enough, she even had a cheesy video for it too. *Face-Palm*
6. Kim’s Marriage Lasts 72 Days
Bet you didn’t know this juicy little fact about Kim Kardashian – she’s been married not once, not twice, but THREE times. Her first marriage was with music producer Damon Thomas, but they divorced three years later.
Her second marriage, which was her most controversial, was with basketball player Kris Humphries. Kim’s marriage which lasted just 72 days was a major media scandal and it still haunts her to this very day. Just when we thought she’d prove the haters wrong by sustaining her third marriage to rapper Kanye West, Kimye got divorced in 2021.
Kris Humphries – along with other men – is rumored to be a victim of the “Kardashian Curse” – do you believe it?
7. She gets a Vampire Facial
She denies getting butt implants, but she’s not afraid to reveal that she’s a fan of vampire facials! On an episode of Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Kim put the “c” in controversy when she injected her own blood into her face to give her skin a more youthful appearance. Posting a photo of her blood-stained face, Kim was labelled “f*****g stupid”, “superficial” and “disgusting”.
8. Kim Names her Child “North West”
Fans were over the moon for Kim when she gave birth to her first baby girl. What got the people talking, however, was the little dumpling’s name. Kim and Kanye named their daughter “North West”, which led to people teasing, scoffing and ridiculing the crazy couple.
Seriously, who names their daughter after compass directions?! It didn’t get any better when she named her other three kids, “Saint”, “Chicago” and “Psalm”. Sigh…
9. She Stars in the Bound 2 Music Video
Viewers were Bound 2 be flabbergasted after watching Kanye West’s music video for his single, Bound 2. The shocking clip saw the rapper and Kim getting hot and heavy whilst riding a motorbike and seductively moving and kissing along to outrageous lyrics.
Thank goodness North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm were too young to understand what mommy and daddy were doing on the television screen!
10. Kim Graces the Cover of Vogue
The world was not pleased to see Kim and Kanye on the front cover of Vogue magazine. It may have been a “dream come true” for the TV-star, however not everyone felt the same.
The duo certainly were the “World’s Most Talked About Couple” when their Vogue spread debuted. “We all knew Vogue was dying, but this is it. The official death of Vogue,” wrote reader Freya Greaves. Even Sarah Michelle Gellar had her say, “Well……I guess I’m cancelling my Vogue subscription. Who is with me???” Ouch.
Well at least Kim and Kanye laughed all the way to bank after it. Haters gonna hate, right?
11. She’s Pranked in Paris
Kim Kardashian’s controversial moments even cross borders! Despite the prestigious front row seats and glamorous outfits, Kim and Kanye became victims of assault during Paris Fashion Week in 2014. As Kim stepped out of the vehicle and made her way towards the Balmain show, she was violently almost pulled to the ground by infamous prankster, Vitalii Sediuk. The video ended up going viral.
12. Kim’s Photos are Hacked
When anonymous hackers leaked a bunch of celebrity photos back in September 2014, Kim Kardashian was one of the stars who fell victim. Her personal photo went viral on social media, sending the internet into a meltdown. It’s not the first time we’ve seen Kim in her birthday suit, but the incident was still nonetheless shocking.
13. She Poses for GQ
Kim celebrated her title as GQ’s Woman of the Year in 2014 by stripping off for a super-revealing photoshoot that let her famous booty shine. The spread was suggestive indeed, but not half as explicit as her crazier photoshoots to come…
14. Kim Strips off for Paper Magazine
Kim officially broke the internet in November 2014 when her full-frontal shoot for Paper magazine debuted. The outrageous and extremely controversial photos gave rise to millions of Tweets, likes, shares, comments and memes online, making Kim and her body the most talked about subject of the year.
15. She Poses for Love Magazine
In February 2015, everyone wondered whether Kim Kardashian even wore clothes anymore. The regular exhibitionist posed nude again for an explicit photoshoot with Love Magazine, showing off more than just her famous behind.
16. Kim Takes a Pregnant Selfie
When announcing that she was expanding the Kardashian family tree in 2015, the scandalous star was accused of using a surrogate to carry her baby. Six months into her pregnancy, Kim decided to silence the haters and fire back at the critics who doubted her pregnancy by posing with no clothes on in an Instagram photo to prove that she was indeed pregnant.
17. She Shares Another Revealing Selfie
Kim sent shockwaves across the world by sharing a controversial selfie in March 2016. The NSFW photo caused a major stir online, leading many to brandish her a bad role model and unfit mother. Kim confronted all her haters and threw even more fuel into the fire by posting another raunchy pic. This time however, she captioned it with a great post about body and slut-shaming…
18. Kim Beefs with Piers Morgan, Bette Midler & Chloe Moretz
The same photo led actress Bette Midler, Chloe Moretz and TV host, Piers Morgan to publicly slam and shame Kim K for posting such a “scandalous” snap. Of course, the brunette beauty stood her ground.
After trending on Twitter for posing nude, next, she trended for having an online feud with some celebrities. This Kardashian isn’t all about exhibitionism (as many would assume). She’s got quite the comebacks, too. Check out her Twitter rant and savage replies to all of her haters…
19. Kim Goes to War with Taylor Swift
Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift were trending for days on Twitter after the fashionista tried to expose the singer as a liar. Controversial Taylor was accused of trying to sabotage Kanye’s career by claiming she had no say in approving his Famous lyrics (where he labelled her a “bi**h”).
Kim got involved in Kanye and Taylor’s ongoing feud by releasing footage which heard the popstar fully approving the lyrics in question (in which Taylor later denied). Kim even posted a shady tweet directed to Taylor in celebration of International Snake Day.
20. Kim Poses With Amber Rose
You’ve got to rate any girl who can hang out with their husband’s ex-girlfriend. This may have been one of Kim’s most controversial moments, but it also made her look like quite the decent person. Amber hasn’t really been particularly nice about the Kardashians in the past, so seeing the two together, in a selfie, kinda broke the internet.
21. Kim is Robbed in Paris
Kim made huge headlines in October 2016 when she was reportedly held at gunpoint by five armed robbers during her stay in Paris. The socialite may have had the scare of a lifetime and lost an alleged $10 million worth of jewelry, but that didn’t stop people from claiming the robbery was “faked for publicity”.
Many accused Kim of trying to break the internet once more and get attention by lying about the entire ordeal. Her tears and breakdown on Keeping Up with the Kardashians however, silenced the haters, proving to the incident to be true.
22. She’s Accused of Using Drugs
That’s right. Kim Kardashian was caught up in a drug scandal in July 2017. In the background of one of her Snapchat videos, a dash of white powder was spotted on her kitchen counter, leading many to assume the socialite was doing cocaine. Kim later hit back at haters, correcting them and reassuring them that it was simply a swirl on the marble counter. It’s safe to say the haters have lost their “marbles”.
23. Kim Dresses North Inappropriately
Kim was blasted by fans when she was blamed for dressing her daughter, North in “sexualized attire”. The cosmetics mogul caused a social media outcry when North was spotted wearing a “corset”, which is typically used to sexualize the female body and shrink waists.
It didn’t help knowing that Kim had previously promoted the use of waist trainers. But she later took to Twitter to confront her haters, telling them she “would never put her [my] daughter in a corset! It’s a dress I bought that is fabric that laces up and looks like a corset!’
24. She Defends Jeffree Star
Kim trended on Twitter once again in the summer of 2017 when she defended racist YouTube makeup artist, Jeffree Star. In what was yet another crazy and controversial moment, the E! Star told her fans to “get over” and ‘”get off his a**”, oblivious to the racist things Jeffree had said in the past, such as using the word “n***er”. She later apologized and called herself “naive” after learning about the YouTube star’s racist past.
25. Kim Wears Cornrows
Who would’ve thought Kim’s hairstyle would cause such an uproar? After multiple times of being criticized for wearing cornrows in the past, she took no shame in repeating the hairstyle in 2018. Wearing her hair in Fulani braids in her Instagram pics, many fans called Kim out for cultural appropriation. The backlash clearly didn’t bother the TV star as she went out in public wearing cornrows soon after!
26. Kimono Faces Controversy
In June of 2019, Kim was dragged by fans and fashion critics after deciding to name her new shapewear line, “Kimono”. Now, we all know that Kimonos are traditional Japanese garments that have nothing to do with shapewear, so the fashionista ended up being accused of appropriation and got called out for being disrespectful to Japanese culture. Eventually, Kim acknowledged her ignorant mistake and changed the name of her shapewear to “Skims”.
27. She’s Accused of Using Blackface
It wasn’t a festive season for Kim in December 2019. Her photoshoot for 7Hollywood faced much backlash after people accused her of using blackface. The magazine cover where Kim channeled Elizabeth Taylor depicted the fashionista with a much darker skin color than usual.
Commenters noticed that Kim’s skin color was enhanced to resemble that of Black women and tweeted messages like, “Kim Kardashian often appropriates Black female culture to get attention.” Kim failed to respond to the backlash, but a source told PageSix, “It’s the lighting that makes her look darker in this specific image…”
27. Kim Fights with Kourtney
We’re used to seeing Kim strip off or smile for the camera, but this time round, the problematic star made headline news for getting into a catfight with her sister on film. Indeed, Kim and Kourtney had a huge physical fight on Keeping Up With the Kardashians when the former accused Kourtney of not “caring about stuff”. Fists were thrown, nails were scratched, and hair was ripped. Watch the controversial clip below:
29. She Goes on Vacation During COVID-19
Kim Kardashian’s controversies even made news during a global pandemic. During a time when most of the world was locked down and social distancing due to COVID-19 restrictions, Kim was busy partying with friends for her 40th birthday in 2020. People were mad at the reality star for posting photos of the event and being “tone-deaf” and privileged enough to have those celebrations during a global pandemic. Only Kim K would get away with this, right?
30. Kim Advises Women to “Get up and Work”
In an interview with Variety, Kim gave (unwanted) advice for other women in business saying, “I have the best advice for women in business. Get your fu**ing a** up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.” This unsolicited advice to working women landed her in hot water and was branded insensitive and hypocritical considering her privileged life and upbringing.
Kim later apologized for her controversial comment during an interview with Good Morning America saying, “…It wasn’t a blanket statement toward women or to feel like I don’t respect the work or [don’t] think that they work hard—I know that they do. That was taken out of context, but I’m really sorry if it was received that way.”
31. She Wears Marilyn Monroe’s Dress
If there’s anyone who’s been compared to 50’s icon Marilyn Monroe, it’s Kim Kardashian. And apparently, that gave her the right to wear one of her most signature dresses. Kim made the controversial choice of wearing wore Marilyn’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” gown to the 2022 Met Gala and even lost 15 pounds to fit into it. This decision immediately gained a hostile response, with many saying the 1962 dress should never have been touched by Kim in the first place.
32. She Gives Distasteful Balenciaga Comments
When Kim responded to criticism over the controversial Balenciaga campaign in 2022, fans were not impressed. Although she said she was “disgusted” and “outraged” by the photos, Kim added that she was “re-evaluating her [my] relationship with the brand, basing it off their willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened.”
Twitter users responded saying that Kim should have been angrier about the photo shoot that featured children posing with teddy bears in bondage and that she simply should have cut ties with them immediately.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, Kim! Controversy should be your middle name!
Every ‘bad thing’ Kim does only makes her richer and more relevant. Excuse us as we sit back and wait for her next crazy move…
This article was originally published in March 2019.
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