Kim Kardashian’s life is explored in a new book chronicling her meteoric rise to fame.
In the new book, “Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future,” writer Jonathan Van Meter dove deep into the lives of the Kardashians, particularly Kim, and how she built her empire outside of reality TV.
Through a series of interviews with members of the Kardashian family, including Kim, Khloe and Kourtney, as well as those close to the famous family, Van Meter discusses the biggest moments in her life, including her relationship with Kanye, the terrifying Paris robbery, her mother’s affair and her prison reform and advocacy work.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the book.
White House warnings
In October 2017, Kim saw a video of Alice Marie Johnson in prison, in which she was pleading for clemency.
She opened up in the book about how the video “changed my life,” saying she immediately reached out to Shawn Holley, who was a lawyer on O.J. Simpson’s defense team, asking “What can we do?”
After learning the only way to get Johnson out of prison was a presidential pardon, Kim reached out to Ivanka Trump, who put her in touch with Jared Kushner. Kushner helped set up a meeting between Kardashian and President Trump, a move that raised concerns on both sides about the “optics,” according to the book.
“Everyone was telling me, ‘Don’t go, your career will be over; you can’t step foot in there.’ And I was like, ‘It’s my reputation over someone’s life?’ Weigh that out,” Kim said in the book. “People talk s— about me all day long. It will just be another story about me versus someone getting their life back.”
A week after the meeting with President Trump, Kim was able to call Johnson and personally deliver the news that she had been granted clemency.
“She started screaming on the phone. I was on the set of a Steven Klein shoot, practically nude, so I had to cover with a robe and make this call and tell her,” Kim said. “She packed her stuff—whatever she checked in with twenty two years prior—and was released immediately.”
Oval Office meeting
Kim’s experience advocating on behalf of Johnson was her first step on the path towards becoming a lawyer and furthering her advocacy work.
She met with President Trump again, this time on behalf of a man who received a life sentence for a nonviolent crime. This time, she was accompanied by attorney Van Jones, who said he will “never forget walking into the West Wing with her.”
While Jones felt as if “Every sentence I said made it worse,” he recalled Kim and the president discussing the case, including Kardashian’s response after Trump said, “This guy . . . let’s just be honest now. This is a tough guy.”
“Kim had memorized the case,” Jones said in the book. “She knew everything about the person. She told the president, ‘You can be the big guy; you can help a sick man.’ It was like watching a ballerina hypnotize a grizzly bear . . . her syllable-to-impact ratio is off the charts. What she can get done in a simple sentence!”
Jones argued in the book that while some may resent Kim because “she represents somebody who already has it all” and is now trying to also “be successful in my field,” he says, “if you’re in jail, and you’re trying to get out, you’re not mad at Kim Kardashian.”
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“You have literally hundreds of thousands of people for whom the system is so broken that only when a Kim Kardashian steps in does she change the odds in their favor, even a little bit,” he said. “So you can be mad at Kim or you can be mad at the system that is so broken that it needs Kim.”
Kanye concerns
Kim married rapper Kanye West in May 2014 and welcomed four children together before filing for divorce in February 2021.
Towards the end of their marriage, West began acting increasingly erratic as he dealt with ongoing mental health issues and began speaking negatively about Kim and her family members. Kim expressed in the past that this led her to not feel safe around him, emotionally and physically.
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Despite this, Kim told Van Meter she continues to “worry about him all day.”
“All the time. That’s the father of my kids, I’ll never not worry about him. And that’s a big burden of having kids with someone who you don’t necessarily get along with. My kids would never know that. I do everything in my power to forget about all the negative things that happened,” she said. “I have to be realistic, and my therapist definitely tells me, ‘Your boundaries have to go up,’ but we manage to coparent without too much conflict. It’s been pretty smooth for while. I guess because we don’t talk that much. But when we see each other, we give each other a hug.”
She added that she not only encourages her children to have a relationship with their father, but also with his family, noting that whenever his family members are in town, she will invite them over for dinner and to spend time with her kids.
Although he was acting erratic in public, Kim noted their children never saw him that way, adding, “That was such a blessing.”
“He would have a full episode, and the kids would never know because they would be almost a calming presence for him. So it was a fine balance of, like, how do we keep them around? Or: Is it go-time?” she said. “My whole household knows what a ‘lockdown’ means if I text it. Like, ‘We’re on lockdown.’ No TVs, just movies. No just plug in a phone for music in the car. Not even, like, XM, because they talk about current events in real time. like, they don’t have to be a party to this.”
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A house divided
Kris Jenner’s marriage to Robert Kardashian ended in 1990 when she was caught having an affair with 23-year-old soccer player, Todd Waterman.
In her own memoir, Jenner opened up about the affair, calling it “out of control, crazy, dangerous.” Van Meter writes that as time went on she got “reckless” and would openly host friends at her home along with Waterman, and even took six-year-old Khloe with her when she went on dates with him.
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“We knew my mom was dating, because we would see it,” Kim said. “She introduced us to her boyfriend. He was ten years younger. He was kind of like a playboy.”
Robert eventually confronted Jenner, and they came together to tell their children they were getting a divorce in January 1990.
When reflecting on that day, Kim shared that “Kourtney had a hard time with it” and that “I didn’t really care.” Kourtney confirmed this saying, “I don’t think it affected her,” when asked about Kim’s reaction.
“It was traumatic for me,” Kourtney told Van Meter. “I feel like the oldest child takes things the hardest. I see that with my own kids and my nieces and nephews.”
OJ’s opinion
When “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” aired its first episode in October 2007, audiences gained access to the Kardashian/Jenner clan in a way they previously never had.
Prior to the release of the show, Kim appeared on “The Tyra Banks Show” in September, and after seeing her on the show, O.J. Simpson wasn’t too hopeful the show would be a success.
While in Las Vegas getting ready to commit armed robbery to allegedly steal sports memorabilia he believed to be his, memorabilia dealer, Tom Riccio, who was in the room with him, recalled the former football star saying, “That’s my goddaughter! Her name is Kim!” and then added, “That show ain’t gonna last two weeks!”
Of course, the show ultimately went on to air on E! for over 14 years and spawned eight spin-off shows. Their reality TV prowess continues on Hulu, as their new show, “The Kardashians” recently started its eighth season on the streamer.
