When Caitlyn Jenner first transitioned, it
seemed ex-wife Kris Jenner and their reality
TV brood were more than supportive.
But family rifts have since come to light.
Here are the details about Caitlyn Jenner's
strained relationship with the Kardashians.
When Caitlyn Jenner's revelatory Vanity Fair
cover hit newsstands in 2015, she finally
got to speak in depth about her marriage with
Kris Jenner.
But, unfortunately for Kris, the unflattering
details didn't exactly thrill the Kardashian
matriarch.
Caitlyn told the outlet,
"I think in a lot of ways she became less
tolerant of me.
Then I'd get upset and the whole relationship
kind of fizzled.
A lot of times she wasn't very nice.
People would see how I got mistreated.
She controlled the money…all that kind of
stuff."
Understandably, Kris was upset with Caitlyn's
shady assessment of their union.
She described her feelings on how Caitlyn
ended the marriage as the quote, "most passive-aggressive
thing I think I've ever experienced."
On an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians,
Kris said of the Vanity Fair piece,
"He can go f--- himself.
I honestly wish I never met this man."
But that high-profile airing of grievances
would prove to be just the beginning of an
increasingly ugly feud.
On the first season of Caitlyn's reality series,
I Am Cait, Kim Kardashian made it clear she
didn't approve of Caitlyn criticizing her
mom in Vanity Fair.
"Talk bad about my mom."
"I'm telling you."
"I come for you."
She also accused Caitlyn of distancing herself
from the rest of the family, and for still
having a little of her Bruce-like edge.
"You still have a little Bruce in you.
I thought Caitlyn would be a little kinder."
"Kinder sweeter gentler."
Kim also pointed out that Caitlyn had called
daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner a quote
"distraction" in the interview, and had been
spending all her time with her new friends
in the trans community.
"You look amazing.
It's your time.
But you don't have to bash us.
You've got the fame, but you're losing your
family."
Kris and Khloé Kardashian also confronted
Caitlyn on the show, with Kris asking her
ex for some of the same attention that Caitlyn
was currently giving to her new friends.
"You're sensitive and amazing to all these
new people in your life, you're just not so
sensitive and amazing to the family that you
left behind."
And Khloe took a few shots on behalf of the
family, saying Caitlyn should leave Kris out
of the conversation entirely, instead of dragging
her through the mud, and adding,
"We want to support you and be there for you,
but, we don't think that that entails you
speaking negatively about my mom."
The immediate aftermath of Caitlyn's transition
saw the dynamic between her and Kris turn
decidedly negative.
But there were a few instances where they
tried to at least be civil, according to Entertainment
Tonight.
In 2015, the two appeared together at the
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in support
of Kendall's first walk at the event.
And according to witnesses, the exes seemed
happy to see each other, and even took the
time for a quick pic in the front row.
One year later, they were still on decent
enough terms for Caitlyn to land an invite
to Kris' annual, star-studded Christmas Eve
party.
"I'm getting emotional.
It makes me sad.
It does.
It makes me so sad."
But it wouldn't take long for reality TV's
former First Couple to once again be at each
other's throats when, just four months later,
Caitlyn dropped her memoir, The Secrets of
My Life.
After that, nothing would be the same.
"It's just…it's just the way she is."
Though Caitlyn's book only dedicates 20 pages
to the Kardashians, there was still enough
dirt to potentially fracture this once tight-knit
family forever.
After reading the damning memoir, in which
Caitlyn suggests Kris knew all about her desire
to transition, both Kim and Kris unleashed
their fury on Caitlyn.
"I have always had Caitlyn's back.
But she is a liar,"
Kim took issue with just about every claim
Caitlyn made about Kris in the book, including
the assertion that Kris domineered the family
finances and that doing a reality show was
all Caitlyn's idea.
But what seemed to upset Kim the most were
Caitlyn's claims regarding Kim's late father,
Robert Kardashian.
Supposedly Robert admitted he knew O.J. Simpson
was guilty but represented him anyway to quote,
"get back at his remarried ex."
In response, Kim said on an episode of Keeping
Up,
"My relationship with Caitlyn was strained…But
if you talk about my dad, I will cut you."
Caitlyn's memoir evoked a similar response
from Kris, who initially reacted on the show
by implying that it was the last straw with
Caitlyn.
"None of it makes sense.
Everything she says is all made up."
Unfortunately for Caitlyn, that icy dynamic
was quickly adopted by the rest of the Kardashian
crew.
Though the Kardashians were exceptionally
vocal about Caitlyn after her memoir came
out, the chatter apparently ended as soon
as the cameras shut off.
For as much shade as Khloé, Kourtney, and
Kim have thrown at Caitlyn, there certainly
hasn't been much face time between them in
recent days.
Caitlyn confirmed just how distant she'd grown
from the family during an event at the Cambridge
Union in 2017, claiming,
"To be honest I don't talk to them anymore.
Kim I haven't talked to in a year."
And as far as Caitlyn is concerned, the distance
between her and the Kardashian daughters is
all one-sided.
She added,
"In the book I [expressed] some opinions and
got shut down…They made it more about them
on television.
That's caused a lot of the separation between
us."
The only holdouts from the Kardashian crew
who maintained some semblance of a relationship
with Caitlyn at that time were her biological
daughters, Kylie and Kendall Jenner.
However, according to E! News, as of 2018,
even Caitlyn's relationship with Kendall was
quote, "very strained."
"It was nothing personal."
"But you have to realize we take it personal."
On the season 12 premiere of Keeping Up, Khloé
and Caitlyn weren't exactly on good terms.
And it all was because Khloé did an interview
with radio shock jock Howard Stern, and revealed
her feelings of betrayal by Caitlyn because
some people knew she was transitioning before
their family ever did.
Khloe said on the show,
"We felt so like, what, what the f---, we've
been asking you, and why, why do business
people know, like I never want someone to
feel like they have one up on our family."
After the segment, Khloé reportedly received
angry texts from Caitlyn, which prompted Khloé
to call her mom, saying,
"She can tell me to f--- off all she wants.
I don't have a relationship with her.
I'm done."
Khloé and Caitlyn showed brief signs of reconciliation
during an April 2017 episode of Keeping Up,
when Khloé admitted that she missed having
her stepfather in her life.
"For me, you're all I remember, Bruce was.
So not having you in my life, it's a huge
blow."
But by October of that year, things had gone
sour again, with Khloe accusing Caitlyn of
trying to twist the situation, when the reality
was something else.
She said on the show,
"Oh f--- off.
And it's not cuz of your trans, that's not
why I'm not talking to you.
I'm not talking to you because you're a bad,
mean person."
Aside from his initial support of Caitlyn's
transition, Rob Kardashian hasn't spoken much
about his former stepfather other than to
tell People magazine in 2016,
"As long as Caitlyn is happy, I'm happy."
But once again, it was Caitlyn who offered
the real truth about her strained relationship
with Rob when she told The View in 2017,
"I've never met Blac Chyna, I never met the
kid, Rob, I haven't really had a serious conversation
with in years."
Kourtney Kardashian also aligned herself with
her mom and sisters when she said of Caitlyn
on a Season 14 episode of the show:
"It's just like…"
"Fakeness."
"...the personality just doesn't vibe with
ours."
She also refuted Caitlyn's claim that Kris
hoarded all of the money they made from a
successful motivational speaking business
in the '90s.
Kourt claimed,
"They made the money together.
Even when mom would book appearances.
I worked for her, I would hear her phone calls
in the office.
She would hustle to get speeches."
"You start talking about how I was hoarding
money, when we didn't even have it."
One of the big moments from the Season 14
premiere of Keeping Up was the family discovering
news of Caitlyn's gender reassignment surgery,
via the press.
Though they'd long since cut ties with her,
it still somehow came as a shock that Caitlyn
hadn't directly told them about it.
"So that means they snipped?"
"Yeah they snipped.
But why couldn't she say that to us?
Like, we would understand."
In a January 2018 interview with Piers Morgan,
Caitlyn revealed that she hadn't told any
of the Kardashians about her surgery because
it was quote "none of their business."
When asked by Morgan why Caitlyn hadn't told
her own family about her transitioning, she
claimed,
"[It was] because I didn't want them to leak
it to the press…Of course I didn't trust
them."
Just in case Caitlyn revealing that she didn't
trust the Kardashians wasn't enough of an
indicator of the family's fractured status,
Kim had already addressed the matter on Watch
What Happens Live in 2017.
"What are the chances of your mom, Kris, and
Caitlyn ever speaking again?"
"Zero.
One."
"Really?"
"No, I would say two.
Two percent."
She went on to claim that the two percent
had to do with Kendall and Kylie.
The wounds opened by Caitlyn's memoir were
still fresh by late 2017 when Kris was defensive
about claims that she knew about Caitlyn being
transgender throughout their marriage.
"Did she tell you early on?"
"No."
"Oh, I did too."
"She keeps saying she told me, but she didn't."
It appears that Caitlyn has since managed
to mend her relationship with her ex-wife.
In November 2019, the star shared an Instagram
tribute for Kris's birthday, writing,
"What an amazing mother and businesswoman
you are.
Love you."
What's more meaningful is the fact that Caitlyn
defended Kris to her mother, Esther, later
that month.
According to Us Weekly, Esther went on-record
with the Daily Mail, saying that Keeping Up
With The Kardashians had quote "no plot" and
that Kris made Caitlyn "look unassertive and
spineless."
Caitlyn shut it down immediately, with a rep
telling Us Weekly,
"Caitlyn's team adamantly denies her mother's
statements…Caitlyn has time and time again
said that the show is the best thing that
has happened to their family, and is on great
terms with Kris."
It seems like Khloe may still be holding onto
her grudge with Caitlyn.
During a 2019 episode of I'm a Celebrity…Get
Me Out of Here, the former Olympian revealed
to her castmates that Khloe had the most difficulty
with her transition.
"Khloe, for some reason, was pissed off about
something through this whole process.
Honestly, it's been five, six years, and I
really haven't talked to her since."
It was a devastating blow for Caitlyn, who
raised Khloe since she was five years old.
The month prior to the interview, Khloe had
been the sole Kardashian sister to skip out
on her former step-dad's 70th birthday party,
according to TMZ.
She was reportedly busy filming a commercial,
so maybe there's hope for them yet.
Kim managed to salvage her relationship with
Caitlyn, but it was muddied thanks to a miscommunication.
During a live Q&A in early 2020, Caitlyn revealed
that Kim was the first of the Kardashians
to discover her transition, saying,
"I talked to her…But then for the next nine
months, she never brought the subject up again.
And for those nine months, I thought, 'Oh
my God, was she upset about that?'"
Caitlyn finally broached the topic with Kim
once again, who said she didn't know if it
was okay to talk about it because Caitlyn
wasn't talking about it.
Caitlyn added,
"I saw where she was coming from, and everything's
fine now.
We have a great relationship today."
"It's like new year, drama free, that's like
our motto this year."
Despite Kris and Caitlyn's seemingly tenuous
reconciliation, it doesn't look like the trust
has been built all the way back up.
According to a source that spoke to The Sun,
Kris was, quote "scared and horrified" when
Caitlyn signed on for the British reality
series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here
because she feared the Olympian would divulge
damaging secrets about their daughters' lives.
This report came around the same time that
Caitlyn was repping her ex-wife on Instagram,
so how good was their relationship, really?
"Kinda tryna figure out if I'm doing the right
thing."
According to the source, Kris was concerned
that part of Caitlyn's alleged "massive fee"
to appear on the series might have to do with
spilling tightly held family secrets.
While she supposedly didn't care about her
ex divulging details about their marriage,
she was reportedly concerned that any tea-spilling
by Caitlyn could be quote, "damaging to Kim
and Kylie's brands."
The source added,
"Before Caitlyn left for Australia, [Kris]
wished her good luck, and let her know she'd
be watching to see what she says."
It seems like Kris' worries were unfounded.
When Caitlyn got voted off the series in December
2019, Kendall and Kylie surprised her with
a big welcome home, according to People magazine,
so it doesn't seem like anyone in that camp
is mad about her stint on the show.
Looks like there just might be a happy future
for the Kardashian-Jenner clan yet.
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