The Kardashian-Jenner family have made a living out of serving us juicy reality TV and capitalizing off Black culture … well, at least that’s what folks online are saying after the younger sister, Kylie Jenner, announced the return of an iconic yet controversial era.
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For those who haven’t heard yet, Jenner has officially revived her “King Kylie” persona—which was defined by colorful wigs, diamond grills, super tanned skin and her romance with Californiarapper Tyga. But while fans of Jenner celebrated the return, Black Americans were less than impressed with the persona which was widely condemned for cultural appropriation.
King Kylie was birthed in the mid-2010s and slowly died out after Jenner rebranded from the edgy and Black culture-inspired look to a more tamed style she sports today. Still, many people aren’t buying into Jenner’s revival era, and they’re letting their frustrations be known.
“The REAL reason why y’all love and miss the ‘King Kylie’ era so much was bc it’s HEAVILY rooted in black culture and her trying to cosplay as a black woman,” @xohoneydaniels said on X. And she might just have a point…
This wouldn’t be the first time Jenner or anyone else in her family has been accused to stealing from Black culture. We all remember the days when the Kardashians would get dragged for dating mostly Black men (Lamar Odom, Kanye West, Ray J, Rashad McCants, Damon Thomas and others come to the front!) And who can forget years of accusations that the women underwent plastic surgery to look like Black women??
In fact, the appropriation allegations against the Kardashian-Jenner clan even inspired a research study by Brunel University. “Over the years, we have seen the Kardashians play with racial hybridity and adopt Black embodiments including hairstyles, fuller lips and larger butts,” the study reported. “This is cultural appropriation and is sometimes referred to as ‘blackfishing.’”
That’s why the King Kylie revival is once again stirring up trouble online. “This whole aesthetic was copied from Blac Chyna and the King Kylie name is from Tyga. Who called himself kinggoldchains and has a son called King,” @CHAARMM__ explained on X. “The yt girls don’t care for her clean girl aesthetic so back to she’s cosplaying blackness.”
Others like @umamsukwini said this version of King Kylie doesn’t hit the same because the persona was originally “heavily influenced by Jordyn Woods and the people she met through her.” In case you forgot, Woods and Jenner had a falling out after a cheating scandal in 2019.
This time around, Jenner is ditching the grills, super tanned skin and full-colored hair. Instead, teasers for King Kylie showed her with subtle teal highlights and even the release of her own song, a clear evolution from the first era.
To make matters even worse, Jenner posted a short promotional video where she’s being interrogated by police. She attempted to make jail and being arrested look “cool,” but many folks called her out for being tone deaf.
On Reddit, one user wrote, “The country’s boiling over, citizens being dragged off by rogue badge hungry rent-a-cops, and Kylie Jenner drops a handcuffed hot-pants photoshoot to promote COSMETICS. This isn’t satire; it’s American rot.”
Another user called the teaser video “actually gross.” Yet as always, criticism never stopped the Kardashians from chasing a bag! In addition to launching her music career, Jenner also launched a new makeup collection.
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