In the era of Donald Trump, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, as a guilty pleasure, is almost passé. There’s too much going on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that now make the Kardashian-Jenner household dramas feel like we’re exploring life in a convent. Plus, the Oval Office drama streams daily in real time.
We’ve got sex, we’ve got lies, we’ve got recorded tapes, plus a whole lot more. We’ve got porn stars, Playboy Playmates and a possible “pee-pee” tape. We’ve got GOP henchmen — previously known as congressmen and senators — circling the wagons around their “mob boss.” Hell, we’ve even got treason and a president being investigated as a possible asset of a foreign power. In the immortal words of MC Hammer, “You can’t touch this!”
Every now and again, however, the Kardashian reality TV and social media dramas spill over into the mainstream. And people who’ve had their heads down — trying to live through a government shutdown, trying to figure out why they’re getting back less on their tax returns, trying to determine when Special Counsel Robert Mueller will finally unveil the smoking gun, anything that will prove Trump committed crimes worthy of indictment or impeachment to bring our collective nightmare to an end — well, we must lift our heads to see what the commotion is all about.
Such is the case with the latest drama involving Khloe Kardashian and her now likely ex, NBA basketball star Tristan Thompson, with whom she has a 10-month-old daughter, True. Thompson is alleged to have had a clandestine tryst at a Valentine’s after-party at his house with Khloe’s sister Kylie’s best friend, Jordyn Woods.
Already confused? Join Gwyneth Paltrow. The 46-year-old actress was introduced to the drama on Instagram via a meme from @sourpsycho:
Jordyn Woods is best friends with the world’s youngest billionaire who gifts her with cars, diamonds, and lavish vacations. You’re telling me there’s a chance she gave that all up for a guy who rides bench for the Cavs and has a community d**k? THE HORROR.
Instagram meme via @sourpsycho
And, yes, Paltrow went to bat (on behalf of the rest of us) — likely with heavy sarcasm.
“Can someone explain what’s going on?” Paltrow inquired of Instagram. “I have never heard of half of these people, someone give me context. Please. It seems serious.”
Instagram obliged. With “CliffsNotes.” Because, well, which reasonably evolved person with a real life has enough time to follow the now infamous Kardashian hook-up trail?
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And , now, you’re all caught up. Except for Friday, when the drama escalated at the Red Table with Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Pinkett-Smith gave Woods a platform on her hugely popular Facebook Watch program, Red Table Talk, to come clean and air her side of the story. Woods and her family were being harassed, bullied, and intimidated. She also suffered what, seemingly, is the ultimate social media ostracization: to be unfollowed by the entire Kardashian clan across their various social media platforms.
Now, that may seem insignificant to some. However, consider the power of their collective horde of millions of zealous followers — followers ready to do battle on their behalf for the smallest perceived slight, followers who have created a billion-dollar media and consumer products empire for the Kardashians.
According to Forbes magazine, Kylie Jenner, at 21, is already the youngest “self-made” billionaire in America. All that from hawking lipstick and makeup kits on social media with the sole help of seven full-time and five part-time employees. Woods is just finding her entrepreneurial legs…and endorsements. This drama, then, not handled appropriately, could become the kiss of death for all of her endeavors.
Social media is not all fun and games and less-than-presidential tweets. It’s big business.
What made Woods’ appearance on Friday’s Red Table Talk remarkable is that Pinkett-Smith and husband, Will — an “A-lister” power-couple still at the top of their game — essentially put everybody on notice that Woods is no random nonentity. No, Will and Jada have been family friends from back in the day, from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, before Jordyn was even born. And. they. have. her. back. It’s “Uncle Will” and “Aunty Jada,” thank you very much.
Pinkett-Smith is clearly anxious, and rightfully so, for her “niece” to navigate her way successfully out of the Kardashian quagmire. She understands the ramifications of the imbroglio. Woods confessed to several misguided decisions she made that night. But two things she made clear: She did not have sex with Thompson, and it was Thompson who kissed her at the door as she left to go home. This, Woods claims, left her discombobulated and fearful and is the reason she didn’t tell the truth when Khloe first questioned her about the after-party rumors.
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This is not the first time Khloe would have heard of Thompson’s dalliances. Another scandal had broken as she gave birth to their daughter 10 months ago. However, the seeming betrayal by an “insider” in whom you have confided always stings the hardest.
I remember that very close friend, with whom I shared everything, who went out with my boyfriend of two years while I was away on a trip abroad, a friend who obliged my boyfriend’s request not to tell me about their “date,” even though the outing was, allegedly, innocent. My girlfriend had bought concert tickets for herself and her boyfriend, but he had purportedly stood her up. That didn’t explain their second outing, however.
It took years for me to “get over” the betrayal. A rock had been thrown into a deep pond; the ripple effect of subsequent events were significant and multidimensional.
Perhaps, Khloe isn’t ready to forgive Woods. Healing takes time. But her lack of emotional maturity and feminist consciousness is showing. At 35, Khloe has an infant daughter with a serial cheater. Why, then, is Thompson being allowed to “skate under the radar,” while she publicly excoriates a black woman seven years his junior and 14 years hers? That Thompson is throwing house parties without her, and she is left fishing for corroboration about his behavior, is not the sign of a healthy relationship. Khloe has also had a failed marriage to former basketball star Lamar Odom, a marriage which imploded spectacularly in the public eye as a result of Odom’s drug addiction. Khloe is not to blame for his addiction. However, there is still a seeming unwillingness on her part to take responsibility for the choices that create her relationship dramas.
I had to own mine.
In consecutive tweets on Friday, Khloe wrote:
On social media, where people can seem larger than life, we tend to forget how young some of the players are and how difficult it must be to live a life so conspicuously in the public eye. Woods is 21; Thompson will be 28 on March 13; Khloe turns 35 in June. Yes, it is a choice. But high profile visibility converts to income for celebrities now; many are paid exorbitant fees simply to appear at clubs and public events. Regardless, the devil is always owed his due.
Why are we even writing about this?
Like it or not, it is the lifestyle on shows like KUWTK that many in America and, indeed, the rest of the world now emulate and aspire toward as “the dream.” It is shows like these that have ripped the veil of secrecy from our next-door neighbors. It is shows like these that highlight how much hurt and confusion exist within families. It is shows like these that expose how ill-equipped families are to handle the psychological dysfunction and relationship challenges that money, power, fame and sex cannot fix.
It should almost be mandatory that such shows are narrated by a psychoanalyst.
Pinkett-Smith reminds us, there are lessons here for everybody, not just Woods. Indeed, this real-life drama is a cautionary tale about loyalty, maintaining boundaries, and living out principles that are the hallmark of true friendship…and love. There are lessons, also, about truth-telling, about forgiveness, about emotional intelligence and, yes, about spiritual growth.
Pinkett-Smith is to be commended for using her platform to demonstrate real mentorship and for stepping into a messy situation to bring clarity. But do not miss the power play. Friday’s Red Table Talk was, also, a teachable moment for social media bullies who revel in destroying other people’s lives. It was a reminder that, sometimes, people have powerful friends who have their back, friends whom others may not know about.
“I come as one, but I stand as ten thousand,” Maya Angelou famously said.
Ponder that. Especially as Khloe moves now to counter the backlash created by Woods’ appearance at the Red Table and walk back her attack on Woods. “Keeping up” is work.
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© Copyright 2019 Donna Kassin. All rights reserved.
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RELATED ARTICLE: Jordyn Woods is Not the Enemy, Cate Young, Glamour magazine, March 2, 2019
It’s telling that Tristan Thompson is allowed to skate under the radar, while a black woman six years his junior takes the heat for them both.
