THEEarly Friday afternoon, it seemed like a normal day for Kim Kardashian West. She uploaded videos for her story on Instagram showing the newest designs from her SKIMS shapewear line and posted pictures of herself resting in her living room, with a thin gold band still on her ring finger.
But just a few hours later, it was announced that Kim had filed for divorce from her husband Kanye West, after almost seven years of marriage.
The Kardashians are famous for their business acumen. Besides just appearing on your reality shows Following the Kardashians, each of the sisters has her own business.
Kylie Jenner runs a billion dollar makeup empire, Kim has a line of beauty and modeling products, Khloe owns the clothing brand Good American and Kourtney has developed a Goop-Inspired blog called Poosh.
And perhaps the most recent example of the family’s ability to create profitable businesses is the launch of a tequila brand by Kendall Jenner. But not wanting to be considered just another celebrity-endorsed drink, Kendall anonymously entered his 818 tequila in a handful of competitions and won some prizes. In doing so, it proved that it was a quality product in its own right.
With these measures, it should come as no surprise that, after months of speculation, Kim and Kanye were divorcing, the long-awaited confirmation of the rumor was part of a larger game plan.
According to TMZ, which first announced the news, the divorce is going well, with both parties already agreeing on joint custody of their four children North, 7; Santo, 5; Chicago, 3; and Psalm, 1. The vehicle also reported that Kim and Kayne are in agreement with the terms of their prenuptial agreement and are “well ahead” to agree on their various properties.
With a friendly divorce, this begs the question: why did Kim file the lawsuit now?
Kim is being represented by the powerful divorce attorney Laura Wasser (the basis for Laura Dern’s character in Wedding history), who previously said he liked to file for divorce from his famous client on a quiet Friday, preferably before a holiday weekend, in the hope that he would escape the press.
It looked like the previous weekend would have been the perfect opportunity to file the case, if there ever was one for arguably one of the most famous women in the world, with the news being dominated by the impeachment of former President Donald Trump and the distraction from the long weekend and Valentine’s Day.
Therefore, it cannot be a coincidence that the deposit arrives a little less than a month before the last season of Following the Kardashians ares on March 18.
“Likewise, Kim has remained silent since it was first reported that her marriage was on the brink, keeping up appearances by occasionally wearing her ring and posting on social media as usual.“
The Kardashian-Jenner family has long used their program to address situations that they would not elaborate in real time, instead of waiting for the dust to settle to give the final say, often allowing them to control the narrative.
When there were rumors for months that Kylie Jenner was pregnant, there was no comment from her team until she dropped a video showing her pregnancy journey. A few months later, her pregnancy was her storyline for the season.
For the most part, Khloe Kardashian let the drama between her partner Tristan Thompson cheat on her – once when she was nine months pregnant, and again when he was accused of staying with family friend Jordyn Woods – to pass on screen.
Likewise, Kim has remained silent since it was first reported that her marriage was on the brink, keeping up appearances by occasionally wearing her ring and posting on social media as usual.
The past year has been extremely difficult for the couple, apparently motivated by West’s announcement that he was running for president. During the campaign, he gave a bizarre speech and said that Kim had considered aborting their daughter, North. The result was catastrophic, and Kim was seen flying west in Wyoming and having a tearful collapse in his car.
One of the last times Kim spoke publicly about her marriage to West was in July 2020, when she made a statement that discussed her bipolar diagnosis, writing that she “kindly ask[s] that the media and the public give us the necessary compassion and empathy so that we can overcome this. “
Kim should be expected to use the show’s final season to tell his side of the story, without social media and news media weighing in on each development.
In a way, it’s a beautiful character arc for her. The first season was about her struggling to achieve and deal with fame, even in her unknown territories, and now, 14 years later, Kim is fully in control of her life and choices, but as always, surrounded by her family.