Here’s why Kim Kardashian has failed the California bar so many times
She needs to know when to just give up
When reality TV icon Kim Kardashian announced she was going to become a lawyer, jaws dropped, eyebrows raised, and many memes were born.
Fast-forward years and years of study, apprenticeships and baby bar attempts, and now, with the big California bar exam behind her, (and the result not what she wanted), the internet is buzzing.
Yes, the glam icon of shapewear and red carpet moments is seriously chasing that lawyer title, only the exam keeps saying not yet.
People are dragging Kim for failing the bar
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Kim’s path to becoming a lawyer hasn’t been smooth, and the public commentary hasn’t been particularly kind.
In November 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported she failed the California bar exam on her first attempt.
That’s right, the Kardashians star, who is now starring in the legal drama All’s Fair as a high-powered attorney, realised in real life the bar didn’t give her the green light just yet.
Tweets, TikToks, and a whole barrage of articles flooded the internet, noting the irony of her playing a lawyer on screen while she’s still navigating the off-screen version of the law school journey.
But Kim didn’t shy away, posting on her Instagram Stories: “Well… I’m not a lawyer yet, I just play a very well-dressed one on TV.” She also said: “Six years into this law journey, and I’m still all in until I pass the bar… No shortcuts, no giving up, just more studying and even more determination,” per News Nation Now.
The internet may have dragged her for failing the bar, but she appears to be using the critique as fuel rather than letting it shut her down.
Lots of people fail the bar exam
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Turns out, failing the bar exam doesn’t make you a failure.
In Kim’s case, the twist is she also tackled something called the baby bar exam (the First-Year Law Students’ Examination in California) before the main test.
Back in 2021, she revealed on Instagram she had failed that exam three times in two years before finally passing it on her fourth attempt: “I failed this exam 3 times in 2 years, but I got back up each time and studied harder and tried again until I did it!!!”
That exam is notoriously hard. And lots of people struggle with the full bar, too.
According to UWorld Legal: “The bar exam… may be one of the most difficult challenges you ever embark on. You must memorize numerous laws and consume a lot of knowledge to answer questions correctly. For many, it feels like trying to hold sand in your hands, knowing that you’ll inevitably lose much of it.
Despite its difficulty, many law school graduates who take the bar exam pass the first time, with pass rates often ranging from about 50% to nearly 90%, depending on the jurisdiction. Students who attend ABA-accredited law schools have better outcomes than those who don’t, as do first-time takers compared to repeat-takers. ”
Kim told Vanity Fair in a lie-detector segment (yes, that happened) that her study sidekick was ChatGPT, which she blamed for giving her wrong answers and fuelling her failed test results.
So yes, she’s failed, but she’s in good company. The bar exam is one of the toughest professional hurdles out there, thousands don’t pass on first try. The difference? Wanting to quit, or wanting to persist. Kim appears to be choosing the latter!
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