Kendall Jenner covered a recent issue of WSJ. Magazine, in which they referred to this as “the summer of Kendall Jenner.” I can literally go months without thinking about her or writing about her, but sure. I’m not even saying that disrespectfully – Kendall does her thing, she’s not trying to be in the gossip cycle constantly and she’s not trying to prove that she’s something she’s not. But the other side of that is that she’s as bland as they come. What’s hilarious about this WSJ. Magazine piece is that they’re clearly interested in talking about Kendall’s businesses and her money, but there are literally no quotes from her about any of that – she’s just talking endlessly about how her enormous fame is such a burden. Classic Kendall! Some highlights:
She’s in no rush to have kids: “I’m excited for that time in my life. I just know it’s not right now.” And when that time comes, she plans to leave Los Angeles. “Oh, yeah. You heard it here first.”
Her tequila brand: And in recent years, she frequently visited Mexico doing research and development for her nascent tequila brand, 818, which she launched in 2021. It’s named for her hometown area code, though it is made in partnership with a producer in Jalisco, Mexico, where the agave for her tequila is grown. She’s just as likely these days to be in Dallas for a meeting with 818 distributors as Paris for a fashion shoot. Just two years post-launch, 818 is on track to sell 160,000 cases of tequila this year, the company says, and has made an impression in the crowded spirits marketplace by appealing to Jenner’s peers.
She didn’t choose this life: “Since I was really young, I felt out of place in my family. I was born into this life, but I didn’t choose this life.” Reality TV stardom was less on Kendall’s mind than horseback riding. “I’m not built for this by any means. I’m not good at it. I do it, and I’ve learned how to do it. [Kim’s] like, ‘I used to go to Kitson on Robertson just to get photographed….’ I think she was built for [this life]… It took me [almost] 20 years to be like, OK, I guess I’m getting used to it now and it’s fine and I get it.”
She finds fame challenging: “I consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet to be able to live the life that I live. But I do think that it’s challenging for me a lot more than it’s not.”
She’s more like her dad: “I obviously understand I fall under the umbrella of the Kardashian sisters. It’s just weird to me…because I am just like my dad in so many ways. I’m such a Jenner, in my opinion,” she adds later, calling herself a “daddy’s girl.”
She’s still talking about the burden of fame!! “I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Poor me’ [about the attention], but I do think that it’s pretty intense. People are more mean to my family in general. They take everything and make it a bad thing.”
Launching 818 has given her freedom. “In modeling you are what someone wants you to be. Where you show up on set, the makeup, the hair. You wear what they tell you to wear, and you take the photo that they want to see. So, for sure, being my own boss is really cool.”
When everyone made fun of the way she cut a cucumber in ‘The Kardashians’: “Let me just say I successfully cut ‘The Cucumber.’ So, if anyone says I cannot cut cucumber, I physically cut the cucumber and I did it tastefully. I didn’t hurt anybody. So I can cut cucumbers.” She says she regularly cooks for friends, making a rotation of trusty recipes from her parents, like a rice pilaf with herbed chicken and vegetables.
Her romantic life: Her reported relationship with Bad Bunny, for example, is off-limits, she says, offering a “no comment.” “I try [to] find the balance of keeping things private and keeping things sacred, [and] also not letting the unfortunate frustration and stress of everyone trying to get in on it stop me from enjoying my side. Does that make sense? I’ll go out of my way to do things as privately as possible because I just think that that’s the healthier way of dealing with relationships anyway.”
It’s so incredibly funny to read the careful way in which WSJ. Magazine wrote up this interview. They went to her house, they spoke to her directly, they called it “the summer of Kendall Jenner,” they gave her unlimited space to talk about her tequila company, and after all of that, all they really got was Kendall sitting there, complaining about how she hates being famous, she hates doing the reality show (for which she’s an executive producer), she hates everything her sisters love. Again, classic Kendall!
Cover & IG courtesy of WSJ. Magazine.
She totally picked that life! She didn’t have to be a model, she could have gone to college, work in a totally different field, be anonymous…but she didn’t.
Bingo. Just another insufferable twat who was born on 3rd base and thinks she hit a triple.
Ding, ding, ding!!!
Exactly, endless resources and opportunity and she’s chosen all of this yet still complains about it while giving an interview to a widely read magazine.
Clearly their limited education did not include the meaning of the word ‘irony’.
Respectfully, I think that sounds a bit reductive. All of us are products of our family and environment, I don’t think she ever had the concept of the life you described to begin with. She did the best with what was available for her, like everyone. I’m not supporting her or what her family represents, just pointing out none of us had the chance to choose our family and family is where you get most of your values/perspective. Poor girl never had a chance. And most likely she will never have the chance to broaden her horizons, as most of us don’t after some point.
I hope she finds it in herself to respect other people and love herself. That’s the only thing we can do.
I agree that our families have a huge influence on us, but I don’t agree Kendall “never had a chance.” We all know people who experienced something in their childhood/youth that might have held them back — they grew up in poverty, or suffered some kind of trauma, or had narcissistic parents, or were helicoptered/discouraged from striking out on their own — but they managed to find their own path in life. She had more privilege and means than the vast majority of people. I don’t think she couldn’t grasp the concept of other life choices — I think she just made a very conscious decision to remain in the fame fishbowl.
Agreed!
Didn’t she say she always wanted to be a model? Say it over & over again? And as BusyLizzy says, she could have taken that Keeping Up money & gone to college, developed as a human being, created some sort of life outside of the limelight. She had the money & the safety net to do anything, but chose her current life. Even now, she can stop at any time.
As for what she says about modeling, most top-notch models talk about the job being a collaboration among the photographer, makeup artist, etc. There has to be something coming from the model themselves.
She also hates talking about her romantic life but she only dates super high profile men. If she wanted a quieter life she could date an executive with no fame but she only goes for NBA guys or Superstar Rappers. Seems like she wants it both ways and complains that her privilege comes with a price.
insufferable. that’s all i got.
Understatement. So gracious of you.
Do we think this is just a huge and depressing lack of imagination on her part where she ‘hates’ fame but can’t figure out a different path? Is she just completely lying? Did her mom tell her college was a waste of time? What -is- Kendall Jenner’s damage?
Wasn’t she hosting or presenting on some show like MTV awards and stumbled over some basic words (this was years ago though)?
They had cameras in their face since they were kids. Kids today don’t have a chance at normal development like my gen (the last of the Gen Xers) and before did. They go to school and in between they’re scrolling on their screens and passively consuming some sort of visual content. Reading a lot can help you activate that imagination ability but I don’t think Kendall has the brainpower to even imagine college or another life and that’s what she meant.
They’re all getting into the drinks business thanks to George Clooney and Ryan Reynolds cashing in by selling to a conglomerate/multinational.
People are going to say she did choose this life, but really in what way is she honestly going to do something anonymously with a family like that? What, was she really going to go to school and become a teacher or a doctor? An aeronautic engineer?? I’ve never watched a K episode in my life, but my sense from the culture is that it’s not like academics was particularly focussed upon in that household… they were all pushed to be in the limelight. In a lot of ways, she didn’t have much choice to be in this lifestyle and so what she’s doing, and i mean, making the most of her access to build herself a comfortable lifestyle… I get it.
And of course she’s an EP… keeping it all in the family, getting all the money etc., that’s as much of a smart financial / business move made by the family, rather than Kendall sitting there going “you have to put me as EP”. I mean, you don’t have to do that much as an EP…. my dog could get an EP credit if I really wanted to.
..so what’s the latest with Rob Kardashian? Where does he live? Who’s he married to? What does he do for a living? When was the last time he was on the reality TV show? When was the last time he went to a promotional event? It’s almost like he was born into the same life as Kendall yet completely renounced it so he can enjoy a level of privacy and normalcy, away from the public spotlight and an overbearing mother. It can be done–Kendall just wants you to think that it can’t.
Rob crashed and burned out of that life by sharing revenge p0rn of his ex on Instagram in 2016-ish. He also likely has mental health (including addiction?) issues.
If anyone cared what Rob was up to, wanted to buy his branded products, or was remotely interested in a reality show about his life, he would sellout in an instant. It’s not that Rob wants privacy. It’s that a history of failed businesses and unsuccessful attempts to launch him as a reality star have proven no one was interested in him.
I don’t think Rob renounced fame. It seems like fame rejected him. After the lawsuit and revenge porn, Kris is making darn sure he doesn’t embarrass or jeopardize the empire again.
LOL ok fair point–dude’s a loser.
But I’m not convinced that he’d sell out for the fame if he could. I get the feeling that being rich is good enough for him and that the spotlight definitely isn’t his thing. And yeah if mental health is an issue for him, I can absolutely see why that would be a conscious choice on his part.
But again. Kendall is no hostage in this situation. She’s made a series of willful choices to pursue a modeling career and a life in the public spotlight. With all the money and resources she has at her disposal, she could have easily gone rogue as soon as she turned 18.
There are children of far more famous and important people who have private lives. She wanted the easy route, took it, and can’t stop complaining about it because she has literally nothing else to talk about. And I might add that it’s not too late. But I get the sense that she’s incredibly lazy and uninspired.
There’s definitely children of more famous people who live private lives, but I also suspect many of them have parents who also have set up their lives to ensure some privacy, unlike the kardashians. I’m not trying to absolve Kendall of any personal responsibility over her life, but I also have an understanding of how sometimes we are limited in terms of our choices by our surroundings. She could have probably worked incredibly hard to eg. become a medical doctor and lead a quiet life, but she also would have had to be given certain values from her parents that actually value something like that.
I look at it this way: I have extended family members whose families have never been to university, but have gotten by on a comfortable life in small towns doing their “regular” blue collar jobs. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. But come to their children, some of who tried to go to university, flamed out due to a variety of things including Covid, but in my personal opinion, lack of home support of staying in university. It’s not that their parents didn’t support them going to university – it’s that they didn’t even know how to start supporting their kids in university, when they never went to university themselves. So now their kids, instead of becoming a medical doctor like one of them intended, is now going to be a technician of some sort. This is not putting value judgements on jobs – being a technician is a great and stable job! He’ll always be needed (until AI figures out how to do that of course LOL) and he’ll live comfortably. But the route to being a technician is also within the realm of understanding of his family…. unlike the whole ordeal of going through medical school.
My point about this rambling story is that how is Kendall honestly supposed to go about living a quiet life doing a nice regular job when she is only surrounded by what she knows, which is the limelight. Being a doctor, in our eyes, is an option to her because she has the financial means to. But she actually lacks a lot of cultural capital to even start navigating that, largely due to the kind of environment she was raised in.
I have the privilege of teaching students from all walks of life. I have seen students who are children of addicts become incredibly successful. I have seen students whose parents knew no English and worked farm jobs succeed. I have seen kids from incredibly selfish parents do great things. Your position is an incredibly bleak one — yes, kids are influenced by their parents and surroundings, but at some point one has to make adult choices, and you paint her as a toddler with no will of her own. I’m just not buying it — she has had every privilege, every opportunity, and has had the chance to meet people from all walks of life. Even kids raised in cults break away. She just doesn’t want to.
Hello fellow teacher then! I too have also have the privilege of teaching students of a variety of backgrounds, and I also participate in educational research, and i think my point isn’t that one can rise above one’s circumstances, but that often we are shaped by our circumstances and those who happen to do something differently from one’s backgrounds are not necessarily the usual or norm…. those who happen to do something different tend to be the outliers, or happen to have an incredibly strong network around them which extends beyond family to include community and the school itself to overcome systematic obstacles (eg. working class or certain kinds of POC students who are eg. the first to go into university etc.). There’s a reason why it’s called social reproduction, because society gets *reproduced through a variety of different means, including social and cultural capital.
I’m not denying that sometimes individuals themselves want something different for themselves, and they have the self awareness or world knowledge to want that. But i think a lot of people go through life not exactly deeply questioning the situation they were raised in, and Kendall doesn’t strike me as the most eg. self aware or someone who really questions the existential or sociological factors of her existence. I mean, most people *don’t think about these things. And I don’t put blame on people who don’t go through life really questioning their position and their experiences, because it’s actually something that’s incredibly hard to do. Maybe all the people in your life are super self aware, and super in touch with themselves and society, and that’s amazing to be surrounded by such intellectual persons…. but most of the people i know are just living their life man, and just doing what they’re doing because that’s what’s been taught to them and that’s what was expected to them, and not really asking a lot.
No, a teacher, lawyer or doctor, etc., probably was never in the cards for Kendall, but she could have gotten any of a number of anonymous-ish office jobs that don’t require super smarts or specialized training, but also don’t attract a ton of attention. And given her family’s connections, she surely would have automatically been given a pretty high level position that probably would have been created for her (ie so she didn’t have to do too much hard work).
Or she could have, you know, chosen to just create a tequila brand and focus on that, since this article makes it sound like she is genuinely into that.
Sure, she still would have been papped out and about occasionally, but it would have been a lot less than choosing a modeling career that is literally about exposure, and in which success is measured in part by how much fame one achieves.
None of that is impossible given her upbringing. I know people who went to school with her siblings and they are all normal people with normal jobs. I assume she also had several classmates who grew up to have normal, non-famous careers. She clearly had examples in her life, even if not in her immediate family.
For her to continue to act otherwise is just absurd.
Honest question: aren’t all her siblings on TV? Like, what other siblings does she have that just have normal jobs? I honestly have no idea, I assumed all of the siblings were involved in the kardashian empire somehow aka on the show. I mean from the mom’s side, I don’t mean other siblings on the father’s side that didn’t grow up in the same household (unless they did if the father had custody? I honestly have no idea).
I definitely take the point that she could have gone and worked for eg. HBO as some executive or whatever people do for HBO, what with her connections, if she wanted something quieter and modelling was certainly a choice. That said, wasn’t she like, made to get plastic surgery by her mother or something?
I don’t know… I mean I don’t know any of these people or the reasonings of why people choose how they do… I do know, growing up in a strict Asian home, where there’s intense pressure to be a medical doctor and nothing else (the non-university family side is the white side hilariously LOL)… the idea of “choice” is a funny one. I think we all think we have full autonomy and full control of our lives, but in reality, we really don’t or some of us don’t really as much as others, and depending on our environment, some people are really pressured or narrowed in their choices than it might seem from the outside, and I think what I personally am trying to do is give a bit of grace to someone who I personally see as quite frankly, probably had a lot less choice than we’d all like to admit, but don’t want to admit just because she’s famous and rich. We see being rich or famous as total freedom, but it can create it’s own a box.
Caitlyn Jenner went to college, Kortney went to college, think Rob did, too. For that matter, Kendall can go now. There’s no age limit on learning or achieving. She’s taken the path of least resistance.
Oh I mean, I do think it’s an easier choice for sure, but my point about education wasn’t whether her parents had education, but whether it was prioritized in their house. My sense was it was not, rather than it was something encouraged, but I’ve never watched the show.
To be fair, I think Kourtney went to college before the whole sex tape/Kardashian tsunami started. Rob also graduated from college. I’d imagine if Robert Kardashian had lived it would be a different story as Kris only has a HS diploma and formal education doesn’t seem a priority.
Caitlyn Jenner went to college but think it was more with a goal of ending up a pro athlete than anything else.
Ugh stop trying to make 818 happen. No one wants tequila from a yt gurl boss.
Ozzy Osborne’s oldest daughter remained anonymous and lives a normal life at the height of the family’s fame and reality show. Hell even JFK Jr. did okay
The thing that I hate about Kendall is that she is very entrenched in the Kardashian money machine but wants to be seen as different. She won’t get a massive boob and butt job but she’ll get other work done including her lips. People like my mother think she’s natural because it’s less noticeable. Kris BF was right that she’s an asshole but loves to play victim. That’s why Kylie slapped her up and kicked her out.
Totally agree with everything but…She’s definitely got a boob job though lol
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/hollywood-plastic-surgeon-claims-kendall-5645863
Yep.
I remember when America’s Next Top Model was on TV and they would do these beauty shots (like above with towel on her head). What occurs to me looking at hers is how unremarkable she looks without makeup. Even with all the surgical enhancements KJ has had she is still not interesting to look upon. That is a model’s job. Epic fail.
I so agree with you. Her pictures are so bland. Just a beautiful girl, but nothing interesting to look at. Nothing about her or her photos intrigue me
“I consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet to be able to live the life that I live. But I do think that it’s challenging for me a lot more than it’s not.”
It’s not a challenge.
“because I am just like my dad in so many ways.”
Well “daddy’s girl” your dad sucks. She is a horrible person.
Right? Red flag on that one!
I have no opinion on her. Caitlyn Jenner is a garbage person so if she’s a daddy’s girl, it’ll show soon enough how much she is a reflection of her dad.
As for the tequila, it’s not bad. It’s overhyped, I think there are some quality control issues. But generally it’s smooth with a touch of vanilla, so it would be a nice one to drink if you’re new to tequila I guess. Not a favorite, if it’s all that’s offered it’s fine I guess.
I bailed out of this piece halfway through. Kendall is such a boring person. I’m guessing Kris paid WSJ Magazine to do this feature.
Why is the Wall Street Journal asking interview subjects about having babies?
Whatever. All I can say is that she’s pretty, but unremarkable as a model. She’s lucky to have a famous name.
Yep! She has dead eyes, and just gives boring vibes. Looking at her is like watching paint dry. Yawn!!
I find nothing special about her.
The Osborne daughter that completely opted out of the family reality series always comes to mind. There is an alternative. But that’s not the one she took. So what? Just own it. She is the EP of a reality show that she is a star in. It earns her a lot of money. Those are just facts.
Exactly who I was thinking of.
Exactly- there are children of celebrities who go on to have completely normal and non-famous lives and careers. Her mother kinda f’ed them all up putting minor children on the show, but she couldn’t have opted out the moment she became a legal adult.
i mean, i’ll give kendall her due, ’cause i think she’s pretty, and seems cool, and actually has the supermodel look and vibe (she also seems a bit self-absorbed and boring, but that’s fine, we all have our faults).
i wish magazines would go back to featuring people who actually have personalities, people with something to say. kendall’s every interview is “being famous is hard bwah”, “i’m an anxious person bwah”, “i’m super private bwa”.
she’s so boring my god.
pop culture is trying way too hard with these gen z girlies. i cannot go a week without harper’s bazaar or elle or vogue desperately trying to convince me that sofia richie and hailey bieber etc are the “it girls” of the moment. every other headline is like “stop the presses, sofia/hailey wore lipstick, or a summer dress, how stylish!” lol, so bland.
they don’t make ’em like they used to.
An EP credit is literally just a paycheck. She’s not executive producing anything lol. Kris just had it put in their contracts that they get EP credits – which comes with more money and more control. That’s it. Kendall just shows up to film lol.
I’m always confused when legit business media interviews the Kardashians. They’re not executives and don’t run their businesses. The actual set up and running is done by others. They’re not in there every day running things. What wisdom could they possibly impart?
They don’t even know how to start a business as these are businesses that come to them and ask to use their names.
Yeah, like every other day Kim is on the gossip sites, and she’s looking beautiful wearing _____, and she’s wearing ________, And I think to myself, who really cares. WTF!!
She had a choice. She has siblings and half siblings who refused to participate in the television program and refused to pursue public careers.
It’s interesting because, IIRC, it’s the brothers, and even then, I think it’s only one of the Jenner guys that did a season in that awful reality show when their mother was still married to David Foster and never did anything else. Rob did several seasons and a Brody Jenner still seems to be wanting a reality career, it’s just not really hitting big for him.
Candle and her sisters have no personalities lol. Most of the time, drama about their life is carefully manufactured to make them seem interesting.
Gossip is so boring these days. I remember last year during this time, Olivia Wilde’s video call to Shia was leaked and Twitter went crazy for months….man, those were the days LOL.
I’m so sick of these people……
She could go the way of the Osbourne’s oldest daughter and not participate if fame is such a burden. She may not have chosen as a child (which I fully respect her feelings about) but she’s making the decision to be a model and appear on reality TV as an adult. She profits off of her name and doesn’t do anything good with the attention. Kendall could have talked to the reporter about charity work or structured her tequila business to help farmers deal with climate change —- something!
Are we really supposed to believe she goes to “business meetings” for her tequila company lol? Just like Kim doesn’t go to Skims meetings to talk business. They know nothing about the products they sell. They are just the name and face of the brands. Just like Kendall and her sisters are not really executive producers of their show…it’s in name only. Kendall’s modelling career was handed to her. She wanted to model and her mom literally got her on the cover of a magazine the next day. If she hates fame so much why is she still on their reality show? Why is she even doing this interview then? Has she ever dated a non-famous person? Nope. She’s just like her sisters, but maybe not as thirsty as Kim.
It would be cool if one of these wealthy, talentless nepo babies actually did anything to help disadvantaged people or had a passion to help the planet or anything but she of course has to be a … model and contribute nothing to the collective good.
Interesting she calls her dad well dad. I’m kind of curious about that relationship and that even though her dad transitioned to Caitlyn now if she still sees him as dad. Just an interesting dynamic and that stuck out to me.
NO ONE picks the life they are born into. Some are happier with it than others and some have more resources to choose their own path than others. Kendall is probably dumber than your average bear, but I think we can make two assumptions about her: 1. She had the financial resources to do whatever TF she wanted on her 18 birthday and 2. She chose to do whatever TF she wanted and reinforces that choice every day.
Amen! @bettyrose
Her profession gets her a ton of money. It might be shallow, but it kind of makes sense she’d pick that over and office job, even if it is a somewhat shallow life.
Everyone keeps mentioning doctors, and even they’re on Tik Tok and Instagram trying to grab fame and possibly a reality show. Not every doctor is a deep person. You require intelligence to be a doctor, but some choose the profession for the same shallow reason she chose hers. Then they deal with the workload, and are wishing they could work less and make more money. Next think you know you see a dancing doctor on Tik-Tok… make it make sense, or the 21st century at least.
One of the most popular Doctors on YouTube is Dr. Mike he has over 11 million subscribers. I’m sure he is a good Doctor. But his draw is he is a hottie. Doctors want fame too is true.
She also wouldn’t have had her pick of hot basketball players if she weren’t a Kardashian and a nepo “supermodel.” Don’t forget that benefit, which is huge.
Facts!
Discenting opinion, but I can’t really compare Aimee to Kendall. The Osbournes debuted in 2002, Aimee would have been 18 or 19 when filming she was born in 1983. She was a legal adult, that made an adult decision not to participate. While Sharon is a business manager. Her main focus has always been pushing Ozzy’s career, not her kids.
Keeping up with the Kardashians debuted in 2007, Kendall was just a child born in 1995 an was 12 years old. She had no legal decision if she did or did not participate. It was up to Kris and her then husband at the time. And we all know what a Momager she is pushing her kid’s career for financial gain.
So in that sense, I do agree with Kendall, she was born into something she had no control over as a child with the reality show. But acting like she had no choice as an adult is silly. She chose a career leveraging her name and connections. If her name was Kendall Smith. She wouldn’t get past the door at a modeling agency. She is just average looking to me or at best a catalog model to be booked. And even now at 27, she has aged out of the modeling world. She is getting campaigns for her family name.
Flamingo, your last paragraph says everything. As an adult, she has choices and has made them.
As Michael K called her “Kendull”. So boring.