“I’m never going to give up my relationship with Kourtney. I need to be with someone I can trust with all my heart. And I trust Kourtney with my life.”
This is an excerpt from Kim, There’s People That Are Watching, BuzzFeed News’ brand-new newsletter dedicated to the 20th and final season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. You can sign up here.
You may have heard that Keeping Up With the Kardashians is coming to an end after 14 years and 20 seasons. Last night, the season premiere aired. Here’s what unfolded…
The final season of the Greatest Reality Show of All Time™ opens with the Kardashian kontent I live for, as the family gathers at their new Malibu summer rental.
E!
Despite the stunning ocean views costing more than most of us will earn in a decade, Kris announces that if everyone “squints,” they could imagine they’re “on the French Riviera.” She then marvels at her $3,000 bedsheets before Kourtney reveals she just went to a gas station to put air in her tires for the first time in 25 years. Relatable!
After seeing how the other half live, we cut to Khloé and Tristan happily announcing their plans to create embryos together despite his public humiliation of her less than two years earlier.
E!
Khloé explains she’s undergoing a round of egg retrieval and injects herself with a huge dose of hormones that make her feel “stressed and daunted.”
Any fan of KUWTK will be used to defending it from people who’ve never seen a second but feel compelled to criticize ~vacuousness~ and ~vocal fry~.
However, scenes like these showing Khloé injecting herself and speaking about her stomach bloat are the perfect example of KUWTK’s value.
From as far back as 2013, KUWTK has been radical in its portrayal of women’s health, with cameras capturing everything from Kim being told she had the fertility of a 50-year-old to her struggle with preeclampsia and placenta accreta, which led to surgery and a scene where she wore a catheter.
E!
In a world where fertility issues are usually cloaked in secrecy, the Kardashians have consistently spoken out, spread awareness, and helped viewers feel less alone, and that’s why I’ll fight to the death for every one of them.
Tristan acts as Khloé’s chauffeur on the day of the retrieval surgery. She thinks this is “nice” of him, but frankly it’s the least he could do after ripping her heart out twice.
E!
While she comes away with three embryos, Khloé then learns she’d be at “80% risk of miscarriage” carrying the pregnancy herself. Khloé’s low progesterone levels led to her almost miscarrying True in 2017, and while it’s unclear if it’s the same issue at play here, she’s now considering surrogacy.
We then move to the ongoing saga of Scott and Kourtney. Despite them splitting in 2015, both have recently toyed with the idea of reuniting — especially after a Balinese healer declared them “soulmates.”
The pair may have now moved on with new relationships, but given they were the show’s main appeal for almost a decade, it seems fitting that Season 20 might provide some closure on their decision to remain separated.
Things begin with Scott revealing that his girlfriend, Sofia Richie, is feeling “neglected” by him spending more time with his “close friend” Kourtney than her.
Andrew Toth / Getty Images
Perhaps illustrating Sofia’s point, and in a scene that’s in no way dysfunctional, Scott then sits down to discuss his relationship woes with Kourtney.
He tells her that he prioritizes “taking care” of her over Sofia, before asking whether they’ll “grow old” together.
E!
Kourtney tells Scott she feels moved by his comments, and proving that they’ll probably always put each other before anyone else, goes on to say in a confessional: “I do think whoever’s in a relationship with either of us will have to understand that we are so close.”
Eventually, Scott confirms his split from Sofia after she demanded he choose between her and Kourtney.
Rachel Murray / Getty Images
“I’m never going to give up my relationship with Kourtney,” he explains. “I need to be with someone I can trust with all my heart. And I trust Kourtney with my life.”
E!
This statement broke me since Kourtney arguably has saved Scott’s life by pushing him to seek treatment when he was using drugs and alcohol heavily, and I’ll live in hope of them reuniting for all eternity.
The teaser for the following episode suggests we’ll be getting into Kim’s divorce drama (which you may have heard about?!) next week.
E!
We see Kim sitting outside alone while her family expresses concern for her. Judging by Kourtney’s outfit/glam, this scene was shot around August, shortly after Kanye’s mental health crisis.
~Kardashian Kontroversies~
E!
Over the last 14 years, the Kardashians have dominated pop culture and built a brand worth $2 billion, but many of their biggest career successes stemmed from scandal. Here, we take a look back at how the family’s most kontroversial moments defined their lives and empire.
Kim, you’re doing amazing, sweetie: How Kim Kardashian reclaimed her body
Kim Kardashian posed for the photographer, her naked body draped with pearls. Meters away, Kris Jenner captured the image on her own digital camera. “Kim,” she said, “You’re doing amazing, sweetie.”
It was KUWTK’s earliest controversy and remains one of its most quotable moments. But amid the memes, one detail always gets lost: Kim was conned into posing nude for Playboy, and this led to her enduring a decade of derision.
E!
Kim never intended to pose “all the way naked,” but was convinced by Hugh Hefner who told her he’d launched the magazine with a nude Marilyn Monroe photo shoot. The news “comforted” Kim, who said she was much more willing to pose nude knowing that someone as “iconic” as Monroe had gone before her.
However, Hefner neglected to mention that Monroe had only posed nude in exchange for money when she was a struggling actor. The images were sold to a calendar company and then published without her consent a year later as her star was rising.
Playboy
Hefner saw an opportunity to expose the photos to the masses, purchased every image without requesting Monroe’s permission, and launched Playboy with them. Kim may have compared herself with Monroe, but really the only commonality was their sexuality being harnessed by men and used for profit without their enthusiastic consent.
For a decade, this photo shoot and her sex tape were weaponized to shame and dismiss Kim — her achievements forever reduced to having a ~talent for nudity~.
Women who express their sexuality — and especially those who rose to fame in the slut-shaming nightmare of the ’00s — are only ever denigrated, and Kim became the poster child for this specific brand of misogyny.
However, over time, Kim regained control. In 2014, she posed nude for a series of magazines on her own terms. Months later, she posted a naked photo to Instagram and this was followed by an entire book of selfies, many of which were nude or lingerie shots.
This selfie book was a reclamation of power. After repeated violations, Kim was now the sole curator and publisher of images of her naked body.
But the ultimate act of control came in 2019, when Kim launched Skims — a shapewear line leveraging the obsession with her body into a brand celebrating the female form. It’s now worth $1 billion.
We stan an empowered queen!