Kim Kardashian Addressed North West Paris Fashion Week Backlash
More so than ever, it was a true family affair on this week’s episode of The Kardashians.
In the Season 2 finale on Wednesday, we watched Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and 9-year-old North West take Paris by storm as the trio arrived in the capital for couture fashion week.
You might remember that back in July, this particular trip spawned a number of viral talking points, mainly centered around North’s reaction to the media frenzy that follows her family.
Being the child of two of the most famous people on the planet, North is certainly no stranger to the paparazzi, although she seemed more vocal than ever about being constantly hounded by photographers.
On one occasion during the Paris trip, North made headlines after directly confronting a swarm of photographers, asking them: “why do you have to wait for us all the time?” as they loitered outside their hotel anticipating Kim’s exit.
Her frustration appeared to grow as the trip went on, resulting in yet another viral moment later in the week — this time, while she was situated front and center at a Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show.
Seated alongside her mom, Kris, and Anna Wintour, North took matters into her own hands yet again by creating a makeshift “stop” sign to hold up at photographers who wouldn’t stop snapping pictures.
The video of North’s handwritten sign wound up making the rounds online, with Kim even sharing the video herself, lightheartedly explaining that her daughter had seemingly “had it with the people taking pictures of her.”
“For anyone who knows North knows how funny she finds this video! North I guess had it with the people taking pictures of her so she wrote on her invite STOP and held it up and wanted them to just focus on the show,” Kim wrote.
For anyone who knows North knows how funny she finds this video! North I guess had it with the people taking pictures of her so she wrote on her invite STOP and held it up and wanted them to just focus on the show… 😂🫶🏼🫣
And while Kim was certainly seeing the lighter side of the incident, fans on Twitter couldn’t help but raise questions about North’s evident discomfort.
“If your daughter doesn’t want her picture taken then don’t take her to sit front rows at a fashion show,” someone tweeted at the time.
@KimKardashian If your daughter doesn’t want her picture taken then don’t take her to sit front rows at a fashion show. Also that’s how your entire family makes money, videos and pictures. May want to tell her that now.
Over on Reddit, others even accused Kim of unfairly forcing North into the public eye, while noting the fact Kylie Jenner has talked openly about the long term consequences of being thrust into the limelight at such a young age.
“The fact that [Kim] not only doesn’t protect her from the paparazzi/ public eye … but actively pushes her into the spotlight… is so disheartening,” someone wrote. “I don’t know how they can watch how damaging it was for Kylie to be famous before she was old enough to decide that for herself and then think, eh, that’s okay… I’ll choose that same life for my child.”
And now, with the Paris trip unfolding on The Kardashians season finale, Kim addressed the viral sign for a second time, explaining that she was “dying” in the moment.
“They put invites on each seat and she took the pen out of Cici’s purse and she wrote ‘stop’ really big on the invite, and she just held it up to the people across from her,” Kim said in her confessional. “Just being like: ‘Do not take a picture of me,’ and I was dying.”
And though Kim didn’t directly acknowledge the backlash, she did make a point of explaining why she often chooses to bring her kids to such public events.
But, before we get into it, it’s worth noting that it’s not just the oldest West kid who’s recently had the chance to tag along for some of Kim’s big appearances.
In June, 6-year-old Saint and 3-year-old Psalm accompanied Kim on a work trip to NYC, where they sat in on a live taping of a The Tonight Show. Seated in the audience, the boys were even featured in the broadcast after Kim had to tell them to stop making noise during her interview.
Several weeks later, Kim returned to the city for another girls trip, this time with North and her 4-year-old sister, Chicago. The trio did some sightseeing and paid a visit to the American Dream mall, where North even told a crowd of fans to shush.
However, Kim explains early in this week’s episode that the reason for putting her kids in these high profile situations is so that they can gain a deeper understanding of her work, and the importance of finding a career that you love.
“I really wanted to bring North on this trip because I really enjoy what I do and I want my kids to grow up really loving what they do and finding their passion, and figuring out how to make a business out of that,” she explains in her confessional.
Later on, Kim doubles down on this yet again, emphasizing how important it is for her that North gets to watch the work that goes on behind-the-scenes.
“It just also shows my daughter the work that I’m putting in,” she says. “There is a whole business behind it, and so, I like to show her that this is still fun for me. Work could be fun.”
And speaking of fun, it seemed that in spite of her paparazzi frustrations, North was having an incredible time in Paris and actually appeared to be loving the attention for the most part.
In one scene, while Kim is preparing to walk the Balenciaga runway, North comes bounding into the dressing room, beaming with joy after seeing the crowds of people outside the venue.
“Guess what. There’s a whole crowd for me and they were all yelling at me!” she tells her mom, who asks what they were saying, prompting North to launch into an enthusiastic impression of fans calling her name.
Seeing North’s excitement, Kris even suggests that the pair of them should pay a visit to the fans themselves. In her confessional, Kim explains that her mom and daughter share the same “silly spirit,” which means they have no fear when it comes to all the attention.
Of course, as a mother, Kim says it makes her “so happy” to see North feeling confident, particularly at the Jean Paul Gaultier show, where the two of them stunned in matching outfits.
“I just love when North is feeling herself. The glasses, the hat. I’m so happy that she’s loving this experience. That just makes me happy. What a lucky girl, honestly,” she says.