Kendall Jenner Finally Addresses That Controversial Pepsi Ad
Honestly, it's about time.
On the season 14 premiere of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kendall Jenner finally opened up about her part in the controversial Pepsi ad that aired in April 2017. "When I first got this offer... I mean, it's a huge company. The people I was following were so iconic and amazing," Kendall stated in a talking head interview (via BuzzFeed). "Michael Jackson has done it, Britney Spears has done it, Beyoncé has done it, Pink. The list goes on. So to get something like that was just... It was so exciting."
The 21-year-old continued, "After I saw the reaction and I read what people had to say about it, I most definitely saw what went wrong. I was so stuck, and I really didn't know what to do, and I completely shut down."
Kendall also revealed that her father, Caitlyn Jenner, caused her a whole lot of stress. Apparently, Kendall and sister Kim Kardashian had warned Caitlyn, who was on a promotional tour for her memoir, not to say much about the Pepsi ad. But instead, Caitlyn had discussed it, calling the commercial "cool" and telling the press that Kendall had seen the ad's script ahead of time—which Kendall said is not true.
"My dad doesn't actually know what happened," Kendall said. "She wouldn't know if I had known or not. She was not in the works of it or behind the scenes of it at all."
"I would never purposely hurt someone, ever, and if I knew this would've been the outcome I never would've done something like this," Kendall continued. "The fact that I would offend or hurt other people was definitely not the intent. And that's what got me the most, is that I would've ever made anyone else upset."
As Nicki Swift previously reported, Kendall's Pepsi ad received enormous backlash soon after its debut with many calling it "tone-deaf" and an insult to the Black Lives Matter movement. The ad featured Kendall on a modeling gig, posing for photos as a crowd of protesters marched down a nearby street. After making eye contact with a man in the crowd, she joins the group, grabbing a can of Pepsi and handing it to an opposing police officer. When he takes a sip, everyone cheers.
Less than 24 hours after the commercial first premiered, Pepsi pulled it from air, releasing a statement of apology. "Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding," the cola company said. "Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position."
Kendall, meanwhile, remained silent about the entire scandal—until now, that is.
Want more Kardashian-Jenner dirt? Read up on all the scandals that nearly ruined the famous family.