Kate Heald
In early 2021, fans of the reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians (KUWTK) will have to say goodbye to their beloved Kardashian – Jenner family. After 14 years, and what will be the milestone 20th season, producers Ryan Seacrest and Kris Jenner, along with Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, have decided to discontinue their hit reality TV show.
KUWTK followed the lives of Kris Jenner and her five daughters: Kourtney, Kim, and Khloé Kardashian, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner. After premiering in 2006, the show focused on the interesting family dynamic of the Beverly Hills natives. Becoming many people’s new “guilty pleasure”, the show quickly grew in fame and gained a large fan base. Multiple spin-off shows including Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Khloé and Lamar, and I am Cait, were also recorded, and added to the success of the family dynasty.
As the success of the show increased, the controversy surrounding the family did as well. With everything in their lives being filmed, the Kardashian-Jenner clan received no privacy or escape from the bright spotlight of fame. Kendall Jenner was featured in a Pepsi ad that depicted her ending a conflict between police and a protest by handing one police officer a Pepsi soda. Khloé Kardashian constantly promoted “Flat Tummy Tea”, a brand which substitutes meals with protein shakes. People were enraged with these promotions because of her young fan base, mostly consisting of impressionable girls who might not have healthy body images yet. These mistakes drew even more attention to the family, seemingly proving the idea that “any publicity is good publicity”.
Kim Kardashian was the first to break the news about ending the show, via an Instagram post 0n Tuesday, September 8th. Her message was appreciative towards her supporters and fans of KUWTK, and she attributed a lot of her success to the show.
“ […] we are beyond grateful to all of you who’ve watched us all of these years – through the good times, the bad times, the happiness, the tears, and the many relationships and children,” Kardashian said.
Kardashian also thanked her co-producers for supporting her family throughout all the high and low points during filming, as well as the numerous businesses who have partnered with the family.
In a somber interview with Ryan Seacrest, Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the family, also came forward to thank the show’s fans and to shed a little more light on the sudden end to filming.
Jenner revealed that everyone in her family started feeling overwhelmed, and everyone agreed that it was time to move on and slow their lives down.
KUWTK will be leaving an immense legacy, as it was the first family-based reality television show to air. The matriarchal family’s life revolved not around the men of the family, but the women, which many critics disliked from the start. Multiple members of the cast also created their own legacies. Kylie Jenner became a single mother at age 20, and her makeup business and her fame has led her to become a billionaire. Single mothers who are financially stable are not often seen, especially not in the press.
Although the dramatic emphasis in KUWTK will be missed by many, we have not seen the last of the Kardashian – Jenner family. Their businesses, children, and potential spin-off shows will be monitored and adored by many.
“The number twenty; it just seemed like the right time, I think, for us to take a minute and breathe, and everybody just slow down a bit. Not professionally, but just figure out what our next steps are,” Jenner said.
