Braids to blackface: A look back at Kim Kardashian’s most tone-deaf moments

Hardly a day goes past without some member of the Kardashian/Jenner clan fucking up and causing a scandal. Remember Kendall’s Pepsi ad? Yikes. Khloe’s constant flat tummy ads? Or how about the time Kylie did a photoshoot in a wheelchair despite being able bodied? Or that time Khloe wore a Native American headdress to Coachella and niqab a year later. Basically the Kardashians thrive on controversy and probably make a lot of dollar out of all the times they’re featured in the Daily Mail for messing up.

And leading the pack is Kim who has made a LOT of bad and downright offensive and inappropriate decisions throughout the years. Whether it’s business or personal Kim can’t help but do things deemed cultural appropriation and just plain insensitive. And even a global pandemic doesn’t stop the controversy from happening. Earlier this week Kim released a line of nude masks – the one for the black model was literally black rather than a colour appropriate for her skin tone.

These are all the many moments throughout the years when Kim Kardashian has messed up:

Her nude masks that are totally not nude

Kim has jumped on the mask selling bandwagon. And surprisingly her masks are only $8 and she’s donating 10,000 masks to various charities. However the problem has come when she’s promoted the five shades of masks as “nudes”.

Four of the masks are very similar in colour to the skin tone of the model wearing them, however the black model is wearing a literal black mask and not a nude colour suitable for her skin tone.

A load of Kim’s Twitter followers were quick to point out the mask is offensive and straight up tone deaf.

Kim hasn’t commented on the controversy.

The original name of Skims

God, this shape wear brand has created so many problems. When Kim first announced her new brand she was planning on calling it Kimono.

She got a LOT of backlash for her appropriation of a traditional and culturally significant garment that’s steeped in history. Even the Mayor of Kyoto wrote an open letter to Kim explaining the significance of the Kimono, as she clearly didn’t realise. How can she not have known the significance of the word???

Kim eventually changed the name to Skims and apologised.

Every single time she’s worn braids

And no calling them “Bo Derek” braids doesn’t help, in fact it makes it worse. Kim has worn these braids a number of times and after receiving a lot of criticism about cultural appropriation, Kim has said she’s not “tone deaf” and continues to wear them.

Fulani braids are a deeply historic tradition of the Fula tribe in West Africa. The centuries old hair technique is criticised when black women wear it, often having people call them “ghetto” or “unprofessional” and yet when Kim does it, it’s considered “fashion.”

Referring to them as “Bo Derek” braids because the white actress once wore them in a movie attempts to remove the significant history of the braids and completely wipes black women out of the picture.

That time she did a photoshoot which people thought looked like blackface

In December 2019 Kim appeared on a magazine cover with her skin looking a lot darker than normal. People on Twitter started calling her out for it accusing her of cultural appropriation.

A few users also pointed out that by now Kim is completely aware of what she’s doing and is using these cultural appropriation acts a a means of staying “relevant”.

Whilst Kim hasn’t commented on her photoshoot appearance, someone working on the set said her skin appeared darker because of the lighting.

They said: “It’s the lighting that makes her look darker in this specific image. There are multiple covers and images from this shoot where the lighting looks more natural.

“People are so quick to find the negative in everything and also often forget that she is of Armenian descent.”

That other time she did a photoshoot which people also thought looked like blackface

When Kim released her makeup line in 2017 a lot of her followers were very quick to point out how her skin had suddenly got incredibly dark.

Kim addressed the comments and said they just wanted a “moody” look and she was just “tan”. She did however apologise and said she would never want to upset anyone.

She said: “I fully understood what people were saying…I would never ever, ever do a photo shoot like that and I would never disrespect anyone.”

Promoting appetite suppression lollipops

Right for once I’m actually in agreement with Jameela Jamil. In 2018 Kim started promoting Flat Tummy Co’s appetite suppression lollipops.

It’s hard to imagine Kim ever using the product, thanks to her private trainer and chef. I’m pretty sure she didn’t achieve a body like hers through a little lollipop.

Promoting morning sickness pills that weren’t FDA approved

In 2015 Kim posted all over Instagram and Facebook pills supposed to help with morning sickness. Kim and the company who made the drugs came under fire for failing to mention the pills could potentially cause drowsiness, dizziness, digestive problems and sleep disruption.

Kim took the photos down. And in 2017 Kim posted another ad for the same company but disclosed all the relevant medical facts. Anything for a quick buck right?

When she dressed up as Aaliyah for Halloween

Kim is a white woman. Aaliyah was a black woman. Kim’s apology for her cultural appropriation was “We don’t see colour in my home”. Please.

Every time she’s Photoshopped herself

How is that nearly every time Kim does a shoot her Instagram followers notice the Photoshop fails within seconds of an upload. Recently it’s been an extra hand in her snake print hair shoot.

And before that she’s had six toes in a shoot and basically looked like another person in a 90s makeup collection shoot.

Despite a lot of well intentioned moves like training to becoming a lawyer and donating some Skims profits to charity during the pandemic, Kim Kardashian has had a number of controversies and I’m sure there’s more to come.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

•A reminder of what the Kardashians looked like before they started ‘blackfishing’

•These are the wildest KUWTK moments you totally forgot about

•I copied Kim K’s sports thot look for a day and I strongly recommend you don’t