When the Kardashians aren’t exploiting Black women, they’re often taking their men, business ideas, culture, or even their looks. It seems like people have had enough, and someone needs to speak up about it.
Let’s start with Kim Kardashian allegedly taking thousands of dollars from Brandy. Many might not remember, but Kim and Brandy were once best friends. Kim has mentioned, “I got into styling because my best friend is Brandy and we’d always shop together. She’d always ask me to be, you know, ‘Oh, you have to help me out, be my stylist.'” While working as Brandy’s stylist, Kim had dreams of opening her own store: “I wanted to open a women’s clothing store in Calabasas called Dash with my two sisters, named after our last name, Kardashian.” It was at this shop that Kim and her siblings reportedly scammed Brandy. Authorized to make a single purchase on Brandy’s credit card, Kim ended up passing the card to her siblings, who used it to make purchases at their Kardashian-owned stores, Dash and Smooch, totaling $120,636.
According to Ray J, the money Kim and her sister stole from Brandy was far more than just $120,000. He said, “But as soon as y’all stole all that money from my sister and the court ruled in her favor, y’all had to pay her back around $700,000, something like that. Y’all still stole about $850,000 from my sister. That’s on my kids. Y’all got caught. Y’all were guilty. You had to pay my sister back.”
Besides the incident with Brandy, that family has faced accusations of stealing ideas and businesses from Black women multiple times. For instance, Khloé’s denim line for Good American allegedly ripped off designs from entrepreneur Destiny Bleu. Some people argue that those designs are just inspired by the 80s and 90s, but Khloé only released her line after ordering a bunch of clothes from Destiny, allegedly. Destiny even tweeted about it, saying, “When someone buys one of everything on your site, has you make them custom bejeweled work, never posts it or wears it, then copies it.”
Guess what? It wasn’t just Khloé who took an entire line from a Black woman. Kylie Jenner also designed camouflage bikini sets, and if you look closely, you’ll notice they’re very similar to those of Tizita Balemlay’s brand, Plugged NYC. Just like Khloé, Kylie allegedly requested many of Tizita’s items before mysteriously creating a copycat line of her own.
Speaking of Kylie, she’s also been criticized before for her lip kits having strikingly similar branding to those of Vlada Haggerty. Her iconic logo that cemented her brand’s place within the makeup world was largely based on makeup artist Vlada Haggerty’s work, but Kylie was smart and made her version just different enough that Vlada couldn’t sue. But it was obvious to many where she got her inspiration from. As if that wasn’t enough, Kylie also straight-up copied the promotional art for her campaign. When Kylie released her purple eyeshadow palette, her best friend Madison Beer was furious because Kylie stole from her. Although Madison didn’t call Kylie out by name, she implied on Twitter that a certain purple palette, which was supposed to be released as a collaboration, was stolen from her. She tweeted, “When people fully steal your idea and what they come out with was supposed to be a collab… whack.” Even the logo of her show “Life of Kylie” was allegedly lifted from Sarah Pope, who created a similar art piece back in 2015.
Back in 2016, amidst the whole drama with Blac Chyna, Kylie decided to launch her own cooking show on Instagram and her app, naming it “Cooking with Kylie.” It was a bold move, especially considering Chyna had her own cooking gig titled “Cooking with Chyna” on Snapchat. Needless to say, Chyna wasn’t thrilled. She felt like the Kardashians were ganging up against her, especially after she split with Rob, to ensure her show “Rob & Chyna” didn’t get a second season. She even took legal action, suing me, Kylie, Kim, and our mom for defamation and interfering with her contract. She insisted the show didn’t get renewed because we sabotaged it, not because things fizzled out between her and Rob.
And then there’s the whole trademark fiasco. Kris went ahead and trademarked Dream’s name without Chyna’s say-so, which meant Chyna’s daughter couldn’t do anything with her own name without Kris’s approval. It’s frustrating, you know? Chyna couldn’t even make money off merchandise or anything because Kris had the trademark locked down.
But it’s not just about business. The Kardashian-Jenners have also faced some heat for their romantic entanglements, particularly when it comes to dating men who were previously involved with Black women. Take Kylie, for example. She got together with Travis Scott not long after he was linked with Justine Skye. And the way Khloé hooked up with Tristan Thompson, there were rumors flying everywhere about him leaving his pregnant ex for her. And let’s not forget Khloé’s history with Lamar Odom. It’s all messy, honestly.
It seems like drama follows the Kardashian-Jenner crew wherever they go. Remember when Kim supposedly stole Kanye West from Amber Rose? And Kylie swooped in and took Tyga from Blac Chyna? Kendall wasn’t innocent either, snatching Ben Simmons from Tinashe. Khloé’s love life is just as messy, with French Montana and James Harden in the mix, and the whole Trina connection too.
But it’s not just their love lives causing a stir. The family has faced backlash for appropriating Black culture too. Like that time in October 2021 when Kylie’s Instagram stories had her looking several shades darker than usual, sparking outrage. And let’s not forget the “brown skin girl” caption debacle in August 2020. Even her hairstyle choices have been criticized, with people calling her out for rocking styles traditionally worn by Black women for protective reasons. And the similarities in complexion between her and Jordyn Woods? Yeah, that didn’t go unnoticed either.
Remember when Kim dressed up as Aaliyah for Halloween? Man, she got slammed for that! People were quick to call her out, saying she was trying to act Black. And then there was that time she rocked cornrows at the MTV Awards. The internet was not having it. And Khloé? Yeah, she’s been through the same ordeal with her braids.
I mean, seriously, you do you with your hair, but let’s call it what it is. Those aren’t “Kim Kardashian braids,” they’re centuries-old cornrows. Somebody should’ve set the record straight.
Oh, and did you notice how Kim’s skin seems to be getting darker every year? Fans are all over that too.
Then there’s Kendall. Remember the uproar when her hair looked like an Afro in that Vogue shoot? And let’s not forget when she launched her tequila brand. People were up in arms, accusing her of appropriating Mexican culture. And the ad she did? Talk about going all out – braids, hat, earrings, the whole shebang. It didn’t sit well with a lot of folks.
Here are just a few instances where people have accused the Kardashians of taking ideas from others, particularly from the Black community. Despite these allegations, they haven’t faced any real consequences that would require them to pay up. Feel free to share your thoughts on what some are calling the family’s lack of originality in the comments below, and let me know what you think should be done about it.
Thank you.
