Tragic Details About Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian is part of one of the biggest reality TV empires in the world (for which she was the main draw for many years). She also has a makeup line and a shapewear line, plus mega-influencer status on Instagram thanks to her nearly 200 million followers. So she can easily agree to sponsor a post if she needs some extra cash. Plus, her mom Kris Jenner is her manager, so while family dinners might get tense sometimes, she definitely has people around she can trust to help her make decisions.

Her family is unbelievably close, as is evidenced by pretty much every episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians or one of its many spinoffs. She has four beautiful kids with husband Kanye West, who admitted he was in love with her since her brief, ill-fated marriage to Kris Humpries. You might think that someone with as much fame and fortune as Kardashian can only have a happy life. But if you do, you're wrong. It doesn't take much digging to find all of the difficult obstacles she's overcome to get to where she is today. So, let's take a look at the tragic life of Kim Kardashian.

Kim Kardashian's mother and father, Kris and Robert Kardshian, were happily married for 12 years until Kris had an affair and Robert filed for divorce in 1991. "I think I have one regret, and that was getting divorced," Kris told Oprah Winfrey in 2012. "I thought I knew it all, I was young and you know, you think you're smarter than everybody else. And I had been with Robert since I was 17 years old," she explained.

In an interview for OBJECTified six years later, Kris revealed that she had an affair, because although her life was perfect, she still had adopted a "grass is always greener" mentality. But she was wrong. Robert cut Kris off financially. "I went to the market one day and my credit card didn't work," she said on the show. "And I'm like, 'I can't even buy a tomato!'" She regrets how it affected her kids, especially Kourney and Kim, who knew the reason their parents' marriage ended.

"We always protected our dad because we felt bad for him because he didn't want the divorce," Kim told Winfrey in 2012. "We knew it was my mom's fault, we were really well aware." But as she's gotten older, Kim said she's grown to understand her mom's behavior. "I've been in those situations where I feel like I want to get out, I can't breathe."

How do you add more stress to a relationship that's ended because of adultery? Kris Jenner found out when her ex-husband joined the team representing O.J. Simpson in Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman's murder case. Brown was one of Jenner's best friends, and Jenner stood by the prosecution. She's mum about verbalizing her feelings in the press these days, but has made comments like this on The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast: "After that initial shock of, 'What's going on,' I just felt like I knew, probably, what had happened." She only alludes to her belief that Simpson killed Brown.

Her kids called Simpson and Brown "Uncle O.J" and "Auntie Nicole." They are Kim and Kourtney's godparents. When Jenner and Robert Kardashian were on opposite sides of the trial, things were stressful in the family. "There was a line drawn in the sand," Jenner told Oprah Winfrey in 2012. "There was a lot of tension and the kids probably suffered as a result of it."

Simpson was infamously acquitted of Brown and Goldman's murders. Kim usually takes a cue from her mom and doesn't speak about her godfather out of respect for his kids. But in 2019, she did recall the last time she saw him. "We all, I think, all started crying, and it was emotional, I think," the mogul said on the Foodgod: OMFG podcast of the reunion, which took place at a club in Miami.

Kim Kardashian's father, Robert Kardashian, died tragically and suddenly from esophageal cancer on Oct. 3, 2003. He was 59 years old. Robert learned of his diagnosis only eight weeks prior to his death, per The New York Times. His children were not yet public figures at the time, so we can only rely on their Instagram posts to learn how the tragedy affects them. "Miss you dad. Can't believe today would be 16 years since you went to heaven," Kim wrote in a 2019 post.

Kim's father still impacts her life today, as she told Vogue in 2019 that he's part of the reason she's begun studying to become a lawyer. "My dad had a library, and when you pushed on this wall there was this whole hidden closet room, with all of his O.J. evidence books," she said. "On weekends I would always snoop and look through. I was really nosy about the forensics."

2007 was a banner year for the Kardashian family, but it's not only because it's the year that Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiered on E!. Earlier in the year an — ahem — intimate tape featuring Kim Kardashian and her then-boyfriend Ray J leaked online. There were theories that the tape was a publicity stunt because the show premiered just eight months after the tape leaked. But Kim's mother, Kris Jenner, told The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast that this theory is "offensive." The "momager" said that the scandal was "one of the most horrific things that we, as a family, went through."

Kim feels similarly. She told Oprah Winfrey in 2012 that she's well aware the tape is how she was introduced to the world and that she's worked "ten times harder" to show the world who she really is and overcome the "negative" public perception. "I felt humiliated," Kim told Winfrey of the tape's release. "I've always been concerned about the family — humiliating the family, and that's what I did. And that's something that I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life."

"If I had one regret [the tape] would be it," Kim told Winfrey. She said she's also grateful she never had to explain the sex tape to her father Robert Kardashian. She later confessed on KUWTK that she was high on ecstasy when the tape was made. 

Perhaps the most traumatic moment of Kim Kardashian's life occurred in Paris on Oct. 3, 2016 when she was robbed at gunpoint and tied up by a gang of men dressed in police uniforms and masks, the Daily Mail originally reported. The thieves stole an estimated $5.6 million in jewels, including Kim's engagement ring, in what Vanity Fair learned is called a "home-jacking." The term simply means that robbers target victims inside their residences. Kim was staying at Hôtel de Pourtalès, or the "no address hotel" for Paris Fashion Week.

Kim detailed the incident on The Ellen Degeneres Show, saying that it changed her life and that she doesn't put as much value on material possessions anymore. "I knew that was it for me," she said, admitting she "100 percent" thought she was going to die. "I said a prayer, I'm like, 'I know I'm going to heaven. I hope my kids are okay, my husband.'" Kim called it "seven or eight minutes of torture" but said that she's grateful to be home safe. "I know this sounds crazy, but I know that was meant to happen to me," she told Degeneres. She's truly thankful to have learned not to flaunt her possessions anymore.

Daily Mail reported that 17 suspects were arrested in connection with the heist in January 2017. Suspects arrested included Kim's chauffeur and two middle-aged brothers arrested for "disposing" of Kim's engagement ring.

Kim Kardashian has had her share of broken hearts, but none of her breakups received quite as much attention as her split from former NBA player Kris Humphries. The couple infamously divorced after just 72 days of marriage.

Let's back up a little bit. Kim met Humphries while filming in New York in 2010 and was making public appearances with him by February 2011, Us Weekly reported. The couple was engaged by May of 2011. They were married 90 days later for all the world to see in a special event called Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event that aired on E! on Oct. 9 and 10, 2011. The special drew in about 4 million viewers each night, Us Weekly reported. The event reportedly cost $10 million and made the couple a total of $17.9 million when the filming and photo deals are considered, MTV reported. But like we said, wedded bliss lasted a total of 72 days for the pair, or much less time than that, if you believe the bride. "I knew like [on the] honeymoon it wasn't gonna work out," Kim said on Watch What Happens Live. She filed for divorce on Halloween of 2011, citing "irreconcilable differences" per papers obtained by TMZ.

Kim admitted on WWHL that she rushed into marriage with Humphries (her second) because she was feeling pressure to settle down. "I think a lot of girls do go through that — thinking they're getting old and they have to figure it out."

By 2012, Kim Kardashian was in a relationship with Kanye West. The rapper confirmed that Kim was pregnant with their first child in December of that year. The couple is now married with four children — North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm — but their journey through pregnancy has not been easy. Kim gave birth to her eldest children, North and Saint herself, but Chicago and Psalm were born through a surrogate.

North was conceived naturally, but Kim has been open about life-threatening conditions she had during her first pregnancy. In a December 2019 Instagram post, Kim shared that she had preeclampsia, meaning that her organs started to shut down. In the post, Kim said that she went into "emergency labor" to deliver her daughter who was nearly six weeks early. She also shared that she had a life-threatening condition called placenta accreta, meaning that her placenta never delivered and continued to grow inside of her body after she gave birth.

Kim's son Saint was conceived via IVF, but in the post Kim shared that she "had to have five different operations ... to fix the damage" that both pregnancies did to her body. She wanted to get pregnant one more time, but said her doctors told her "'We don't even put an embryo in you, that would be like malpractice.'" That seems like so much trauma. But Kim said, "I am just so thankful for my beautiful kids." So are we, Kim!

Like it or not, all of the Kardashian sisters are famous for their curvy figures. Since they are in the spotlight and post on Instagram so much, body shame from internet trolls is a sad, but expected part of the job. Body shame from other public figures? It's not quite as expected, but it happens to Kim Kardashian anyway.

President Donald Trump commented on Kim's body long before he took office, when he appeared on The Howard Stern Show in 2013. "Does she have a good body? No," he said. "Does she have a fat a**? Absolutely." Erm. Ok. A few years later, Kardashian was instrumental in getting Trump to grant Alice Marie Johnson clemency. So, her curvy self is also quite persuasive, it would seem. She's also publicly clapped back at Tyson Beckford for body-shaming her.

But Kim told C Magazine (via Elle) that the media crossed a line by fat shaming her while she was pregnant. ""It was the worst!" the star said, of comments she saw during her first pregnancy. The comments actually changed her relationship with photographers. "Before I was always smiling, and so into being out and about," she said. "After I had the baby, I was like, these are the same people that made fun of me, and posted the stories that were so awful, calling me fat for something I couldn't control. I don't want to smile for them." Can you blame her?

Kim Kardashian's husband Kanye West has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Kim has spoken out about the stress this has brought on her family, especially because he's in the public eye. In an Instagram story in July 2020 (per CNN) she said. "Anyone who has [bipolar disorder] or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand," she wrote. She also explained how the coronavirus pandemic has affected his illness. She said that "pressure and isolation" is "heightened" by his bipolar disorder. "Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times [sic] do not align with his intentions," she concluded. Kim may have been referring to West's string of controversies over spring/summer 2020 that culminated in his dubious run for president.

In an April 2019 interview with Vogue Kim said, "For [Kanye], being on medication is not really an option, because it just changes who he is," but she clarified, "I never want to speak for him because I am not in his mind." It also hurts Kim that the media thinks she can and should "control" him. "That's my husband. I share every opinion that I have and let him know when I think something's wrong. Or if it comes to him being in the middle of a bipolar episode, I'll do everything to be supportive and help to calm the situation."

Divorce rumors come with the territory of being a couple with star power like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. West's bipolar disorder undoubtedly adds pressure to the marriage and intensifies rumors. Those got intense in 2016 after Kardashian's Paris incident, when West was hospitalized for exhaustion. A source told Us Weekly then, "It will take some time before she can do anything, but she doesn't want to stay married." They've had another child since the story broke so it's safe to say these reports were false.

But in January 2021 Page Six reported that "divorce is imminent" for Kardashian and West, who have reportedly been living separate lives and focusing on personal projects. Kardashian live in Calabasas, Calif. with the kids and West in Wyoming. A source told Page Six that Kim has hired divorce attorney Laura Wasser and "they are in settlement talks" with their home in Calabasas being the biggest point of contention. Kim wants to keep it and raise the kids there, but West "masterminded" its redesign.

As for the last straw in the marriage, a source told Page Six, "[Kim] is serious about taking the bar exam and becoming a lawyer, she is serious about her prison reform campaign." West's antics, like Twitter outbursts, make that hard. Meanwhile, another source said West "is completely over the entire family." TMZ reported that the couple has been in counseling and Kim hesitates to file papers because of the kids.

There are a lot of things you can say about the Kardashian-Jenner family, but no one can deny that they care about each other very much. Considering how much family means to Kim Kardashian specifically, it's not exactly surprising that she told Ryan Seacrest that the hardest thing she ever filmed for her many reality TV shows was the aftermath of the news that affected them the most.

"As far as the most difficult thing that we've ever dealt with or filmed, [it] was probably Caitlyn [Jenner's] transition," she said. "Just because we had no idea if people were going to accept her, and that was the hardest thing, seeing that someone might go through a lot of pain and you can't do anything to protect that person." Plus, Seacrest called Kim the "diplomat" of the Kardashians, noting that everyone was "coming to [Kim]" to sort out their feelings at that time. 

Sadly, Kim noted "hurt and pain" between her mom, Kris Jenner, and Caitlyn as the reason why she doesn't have a close relationship with her stepfather anymore. Of course, coming out as your true self is something to celebrate, but any time a family is torn apart, it's sad.