Here's how the Kardashians went from being just reality TV stars to one of the most famous families in the world.
It's the end of an era. Thursday night marks the series finale of Keeping Up With the Kardashians after more than a decade of drama, laughs, and oversized salads.
While fans first took notice of the Kardashian-Jenner clan when their E! reality show premiered in 2007, it was what went down over the past decade-plus that solidified them as one of the most famous families in the world.
Thanks to social media, sponsorships and ongoing drama, Kim Kardashian West and her sisters took their fame and fortune to the next level, all the while expanding their families, finding love and dealing with heartbreak. The Kardashian-Jenner family had let it all play out for the cameras, but back in September, they announced their "difficult decision" to say goodbye to Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
How to watch the Keeping Up With the Kardashians series finale and reunion special.
"After what will be 14 years, 20 seasons, hundreds of episodes and numerous spin-off shows, we are beyond grateful to all of you who’ve watched us for all of these years -- through the good times, the bad times, the happiness, the tears, and the many relationships and children," they said. "We’ll forever cherish the wonderful memories and countless people we’ve met along the way."
In honor of the finale, here's a look at some of the most headline-grabbing moments from the family spanning over 10 years.
Love and Loves Lost
If there's any way to describe the Kardashian-Jenner family's romances, it's "complicated."
Kim Kardashian West: Before she tied the knot with Kanye West, Kim made headlines when she filed for divorce from former NBA player Kris Humphries just 72 days after they were married in a spectacular televised wedding in Montecito, California. Just like the 2011 nuptials, her split from Kris played out on Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
“At the time I just thought, ‘Holy sh*t, I’m 30 years old -- I better get this together. I better get married,'" she recalled on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2017. “I think a lot of girls do go through that, where they freak out thinking they’re getting old and all their friends are having kids. So, it was more of that situation. But I knew on the honeymoon it wasn’t going to work out.”
In 2014, a year after her and Kris' divorce was finalized, Kim married Kanye in Florence, Italy. In the years since, the pair has had many highs and lows, welcoming four children together. But in February, Kim filed for divorce from her husband of six years. The end of their marriage was documented on the final season of KUWTK.
Kanye has recently been spotted out with model Irina Shayk as he and Kim continue to finalize their divorce.
Khloe Kardashian: The 36-year-old reality star is currently back together with Boston Celtics player Tristan Thompson, the father of her 3-year-old daughter, True, after several cheating scandals, but this is not the first NBA pro she's dated.
Prior to Tristan, she had a brief romance with Houston Rockets player James Harden. She also married former NBA pro Lamar Odom in 2009, but filed for divorce in December 2013 and it was finalized three years later. Both relationships with James and Lamar ended amid cheating rumors.
Quarantine has been a game changer for Khloe, who recently reconciled with Tristan, as they've been self-isolating with True. The athlete has been featured on the show as he recently moved to Boston to start with the Celtics, leaving Khloe on the fence about whether or not she'll relocate there as well.
Kourtney Kardashian: Kourtney broke up with the father of her three children, Scott Disick, in 2015 and started dating model Younes Bendjima a year later. Kourtney called it quits with Younes in August 2018, while Scott has started dating model Sofia Richie since September 2017.
Scott and Sofia have gone their separate ways, and though Kourtney and Scott's flirty behavior raised fans' eyebrows in the interim, they have both since moved on. Kourtney is now dating drummer Travis Barker while Scott is with model Amelia Gray Hamlin. The exes' last attempts at romance played out in the final season of KUWTK.
Rob Kardashian: After laying low for most of the decade, Rob came back into the limelight when he started a romance with model Blac Chyna. The two started dating in January 2016 and by April, they had announced that they were engaged and expecting a child together. At the time, Rob's sister, Kylie Jenner, was dating Tyga, Chyna's ex and the father of her son, King.
In addition to their engagement and baby news, the model and reality star also agreed to do a reality show, Rob & Chyna, which documented their relationship ahead of the birth of their daughter, Dream. The two ultimately couldn't make it work, and things got really bad in 2017 when Rob posted naked photos of Chyna to social media along with graphic messages, accusing her of cheating on him.
"I was devastated, of course. I’m like, 'How could somebody, like, post these pictures of me?'" Chyna said in an interview with ABC News' Lindsey Davis that year. "And I’m like ‘Wow, OK.’ This is a person that I trusted."
In early 2019, Chyna told ET that she is now focused on having a "good relationship" with her ex as they co-parent their daughter -- and a source recently told ET that Rob is dating again.
Kylie Jenner: The 23-year-old makeup mogul split from Travis Scott, the father of her 3-year-old daughter, Stormi, last fall after several years of dating. Kylie and Travis remained amicable exes, and eventually reconciled.
Prior to Travis, Kylie had an on-again, off-again relationship with rapper Tyga before the two called it quits for good in 2016.
Kendall Jenner: The 25-year-old model isn't as quick to confirm her relationships but she has been linked to several high-profile men, including NBA pros Blake Griffin and Ben Simmons, the latter whom she reportedly split from last May.
Kendall has recently gone public with her romance with basketball star Devin Booker. The pair has been spotted out together several times and even appeared on Instagram together.
“Kendall is usually super private, much more so than her sisters, but she’s really happy with her relationship with Devin and doesn’t care who knows," a source told ET in April.
Kris Jenner: After 24 years of marriage, Kris and Caitlyn Jenner called it quits in 2015. Since then, the 65-year-old momager has been dating 40-year-old Corey Gamble while Caitlyn is often seen out and about with Sophia Hutchins. (Sophia has denied she and Caitlyn are romantic.)
Scandals
From cheating scandals to controversial commercials, the Kardashian-Jenners are no strangers to drama.
Kendall Jenner's Pepsi Commercial Controversy: In April 2017, Pepsi set out to spread a message of peace and empowerment in their "Live for Now" commercial starring Kendall, but it didn't work out that way. The ad instead caused controversy for showing Kendall ending a protest by sharing a Pepsi with a police officer. Once the officer drinks the beverage, the crowd starts cheering.
After the commercial was released, a Twitter backlash erupted, with some threatening to boycott the soft drink company, while others accused the brand of mocking the Black Lives Matter movement. "How nice of Kendall Jenner to stop in the middle of her photo shoot to end social injustices by giving that cop a Pepsi? MLK who? Rosa who?" read one tweet.
The ad was promptly pulled and a source told ET at the time that Kendall was "devastated."
"This is the first controversial campaign she has been involved with," the source said. "Even though she had nothing to do with the production and the message of the campaign, she will be blamed for this since she is the face."
Scott Disick's Cheating Scandal: In 2015, Scott found himself at the center of a media firestorm after it was revealed that he had allegedly been unfaithful to Kourtney. After being photographed with several women, including Bella Thorne and his ex, Chloe Bartoli, he tearfully apologized for his behavior on an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
"I'm sure you have heard a lot of horrible things about me that I should've just been honest with, but I was too ashamed that I was gonna hurt everybody in this family, not just her," he said, referring to Kourtney. "And I've apologized to Kourtney 100 times, but I've never apologized to all of you for letting all of you down and embarrassing you guys."
"I f**ked up," Scott confessed. "I made the worst decision I've ever made in my life."
Tristan Thompson's Cheating Scandal: Years after Scott's cheating scandal, the Kardashians were hit again with more drama when news broke just days before Khloe was to give birth that Tristan was allegedly unfaithful to her. The two worked through it but months later, Tristan was again accused of cheating with Kylie's best friend, Jordyn Woods. Both Tristan and Jordyn denied the allegation, but Khloe still called it quits from the pro athlete and the scandal unfolded on KUWTK.
"Everyone has their truth and their story, so you just go with it," Jordyn told ET of Khloe speaking out about the cheating allegation on her family's reality show. "Everyone has the right to speak their truth."
While it was a painful few months, Khloe has moved on and is doing her best to co-parent with Tristan.
"I know everybody makes mistakes, I think it's how you handle it and I think apologies need to be as loud as your disrespect was or to me it's not sincere," Khloe explained during an interview with On Air With Ryan Seacrest. "I'm forgiving. I'm forgiven. I'm not someone who holds a grudge. If I do that, it's only going to affect me. ...That chapter is closed for me."
Kim and Kanye West versus Taylor Swift: After Kanye squashed his "Imma let you finish" beef with Taylor Swift from 2009, he managed to bring it all back up with one line on The Life of Pablo song, "Famous."
"I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**ch famous," he rapped on the 2016 track.
At the time, Taylor's rep said in a statement that the singer "cautioned [Kanye] about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, 'I made that b**ch famous.'"
The he-said, she-said turned into a she-said, he-said, she-said when Kim got involved, telling GQ that the "Blank Space" singer "totally approved" of the "Famous" lyric during a phone call with Kanye -- and revealed that the conversation had been recorded.
While Taylor's team denied such a recording, Kim took to Snapchat to leak snippets of the incomplete video recording of Kanye's call to Taylor, where Taylor seemingly approves the lyric, calls it a "compliment" and does, in fact, say that she'd tell reporters, when asked, that Kanye called her about the lyrics and that she was in on it.
Very quickly after Kim's Snaps went live -- and a #KimExposedTaylorParty began trending on Twitter -- Taylor responded on her social media pages, apparently taking issue with the "that b**ch" part of the lyric. "Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me 'that b**ch' in his song? It doesn't exist because it never happened," she said.
Pivotal Moments
From revenge bodies to near-death moments to breaking the Internet, the Kardashian-Jenners have had jaw-dropping moments over the past decade.
Kim Kardashian West Is Robbed at Gunpoint: In October 2016, Kim was robbed at gunpoint and tied up in her hotel room while visiting France for Paris Fashion Week. According to testimonies, five robbers, dressed as police officers, are said to have put a gun to Kim's head while they robbed her before tying her up and locking her in a bathroom.
During an interview on The Alec Baldwin Show, Kim revealed her state of mind after the terrifying incident.
"I was literally – my mom had to come over and say, 'Will you get out of bed? Will you put on something else other than sweats? Put on a little bit of makeup, feel like yourself again,'" Kim recalled.
"I thought, 'Oh, I'm worth so much.' So that changed in me. And, that needed to change in me, so I'm grateful for the experience," she continued. "Even though it was horrific, and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone, it really did deeply change me to where now I feel like I can get back to myself, I can put on makeup and heal."
Kim Kardashian West Breaks the Internet: In November 2014, the reality star attempted to break the Internet with a seriously sexy photo shoot for Paper magazine.
In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Kim implied that she now has mixed emotions about this iconic photo shoot.
"I realized I could not even scroll through Instagram in front of my kids without full nudity coming up on my feed pretty much all the time. And I definitely contributed to that. I mean, one of my most iconic covers was the Paper magazine one, when I was all oiled up and ripping my dress off," the mother of four said.
Lamar Odom Nearly Dies: On Oct. 13, 2015, Lamar was found unconscious in a room at the Love Ranch brothel in Crystal, Nevada, after suffering an overdose. The former Los Angeles Lakers star spent a week at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas before being airlifted to L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
In the wake of Lamar's medical emergency, Khloe put a hold on their ongoing divorce proceedings, reportedly so she could retain her power of attorney privileges, which allowed her to continue to make medical decisions for Lamar.
Lamar opened up about how lucky he is to be alive after that scary time in his life. “All my doctors that see me say I’m a walking miracle. I had 12 strokes and six heart attacks when I was in a coma,” Lamar recounted on Kevin Hart's Cold as Balls web series. “Every day, I’m alive. It’s much better than the alternative."
Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair Cover: In June 2015, Caitlyn made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine after revealing in an interview with Diane Sawyer that she identifies as a woman.
"My brain is much more female than it is male," Caitlyn said. "For all intents and purposes, I am a woman."
Buzz Bissinger, the Pulitzer Prize–winning contributing editor and author of Friday Night Lights, also spoke with the former Olympian for Vanity Fair about transitioning to life as a woman.
"If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, 'You just blew your entire life,'" Caitlyn said.
Woman Killed in Car Accident Involving Caitlyn Jenner: In February 2015, ET obtained surveillance video that showed the fatal four-car accident in Malibu, California, in which Caitlyn was a driver and one person was killed.
The images appear to show Caitlyn's Cadillac Escalade, which was towing a trailer carrying an off-road vehicle, hitting both a white Lexus, driven by Kim Howe, and Jessica Steindorff's black Prius. It also appears to show Howe colliding with a black Hummer. Howe, 69, died in the crash.
Caitlyn, who was uninjured in the crash, was named in a wrongful death suit filed May 1, 2015 by Kim Howe's stepchildren, Dana Redmond and William Howe. In the suit, the stepchildren claim Caitlyn was "careless, negligent, and reckless."
Jessica Steindorff also filed a personal injury lawsuit against Caitlyn that uses similar language, claiming Caitlyn drove "negligently, carelessly, recklessly and wantonly," causing the collision. Caitlyn settled in both lawsuits, and was not charged with a crime.
She called the incident "a devastating tragedy."
"My heartfelt and deepest sympathies go out to the families and loved ones and to all of those involved or injured in this terrible accident," she said via her lawyer. "I will continue to pray for them and I will continue to cooperate in every way possible."
Kylie Jenner Admits to Lip Fillers: After adamantly denying it, Kylie finally admitted that she was in fact getting lip fillers at age 17.
"I have temporary lip fillers, it's just an insecurity of mine and it's what I wanted to do," she said in an episode on KUWTK in May 2015. "I'm just not ready to talk to reporters about my lips yet because everyone always picks us apart."
"I want to admit to the lips but people are so quick to judge me on everything, so I might have tiptoed around the truth, but I never lie," she added.
Khloe Kardashian's Revenge Body: After her split from Lamar in 2013, Khloe made it a point to get healthy and hit the gym.
In 2018, she opened up to ET about her struggles to maintain her weight loss and how despite having a show called Revenge Body, her transformation was purely for her own good.
"For me, I never thought of my body as revenge,” she said. “I just did something for myself. Everyone else was like, 'You have this revenge body.' So I played with it, I was like, 'OK, cool, let's run with that.' Now, it's still, I think the hardest thing is maintaining."
Kardashian-Jenner Baby Boom
With the exception of Mason Disick, who was born in 2009, all of Kris Jenner's grandchildren were born from 2010 to 2020.
Kourtney Kardashian: The oldest Kardashian sister has three children, all with her ex, Scott. Mason, 11, was born on Dec. 14, 2009, while Penelope, 8, was born on July 8, 2012, and Reign, 6, on Dec. 14, 2014.
Kim Kardashian West: While Penelope's brothers get to celebrate their birthdays on the same day, she typically gets a joint birthday party with Kim and Kanye's daughter, 7-year-old North, who was born on June 15, 2013.
North is the oldest of four children. Her 5-year-old brother, Saint, was born on Dec. 5, 2015, marking the last time Kim was pregnant. Both Kim and Kanye's 3-year-old daughter, Chicago, and their 2-year-old, Psalm, were born via surrogacy.
Rob Kardashian: On Nov. 10, 2016, Blac Chyna gave birth to her and Rob's daughter, Dream. Needless to say, the 4-year-old has her dad wrapped around her finger.
On Dream's most recent birthday, Rob tweeted: "Happy birthday my beautiful baby girl ! I love you so much and you are the biggest Blessing I have ever received ! Love youuuuuuu."
Kylie Jenner: In February 2018, Kylie gave birth to her and Travis' first child, daughter Stormi.
In a 2019 interview with Germany's Interview magazine, Kylie opened up about being a mom in her early 20s. “Yes, I always knew I wanted to be a young mother,” she said. “I remember people used to ask, ‘Are you ready for this?’ And I always knew I was ready but you don’t know what that love and that feeling is like until after you have a child.”
Khloe Kardashian: On April 12, 2018, Khloe gave birth to her and Tristan's daughter, True, at a hospital outside Cleveland, Ohio.
"Everyday I give thanks that I was chosen to be your mommy! I’ll never ever take this role for granted! Thank you Tutu! I will easily love you until the end of time! ♡ #Thanksgiving #Thankful," Khloe captioned a photo of her 3-year-old daughter last Thanksgiving.
Business Ventures
The last decade was when the Kardashian-Jenner family started to branch out and began using social media to expand their brands and wallets. Kylie became a makeup mogul, Kendall became a model and their older sisters followed suit with their business endeavors. Even Rob got his own sock company!
Reality Shows: Keeping Up With the Kardashians was just the first of several reality series that the family would come to star in over the years. Spinoff shows included Kourtney & Kim Take Miami, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, Kourtney & Khloé Take the Hamptons, Kourtney & Kim Take Miami, Khloe & Lamar, Rob & Chyna and I Am Cait.
Social Media: Some might say the Kardashian-Jenners were the first social media influencers. Kim's first-ever tweet was on March 21, 2009, and the rest is history. Since the reality star and her famous family joined social media, they have used the platforms to dispel rumors, communicate with their millions of followers and garner millions of dollars in sponsorships and ad revenue.
Modeling: While all the sisters are experts now at posing for magazine covers, and have dabbled in high-fashion photo shoots, it was Kendall who decided to make a full-fledged career as a model and hit the runway. In 2018, Forbes dubbed her the highest-paid model, reporting she earned a career high of $22.5 million between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018.
In addition to appearing in numerous magazines and runways, Kendall has scored lucrative deals with fashion and beauty giants including Adidas, Calvin Klein, Estee Lauder, Longchamp and more.
Companies: In addition to their numerous endorsements, the Kardashian-Jenner sisters and Rob have started their own companies and collections.
Kylie became a "self-made" billionaire with her makeup company, Kylie Cosmetics, leading Kim to follow suit with her own KKW Beauty products. Kim also has her own shapewear company, SKIMS, while Khloe is behind the Good American clothing line. As for Kourtney, she went a different direction and started her own lifestyle brand, POOSH, where she endorses a number of items.
In addition, Kendall and Kylie have their own collection at PacSun, and Rob has a sock line called Arthur George. Kendall also launched 818 tequila this year.
As is evident, the last decade put the Kardashian-Jenner family on the map -- and we can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring... even if we won't be seeing it on KUWTK.
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