Kim Kardashian has hit back at paparazzi after she was asked about an alleged battery incident involving Kanye West in front of her children.
On Friday (28 January), the 42-year-old reality star was seen leaving her daughter North West’s basketball game alongside the nine-year-old and her seven-year-old son, Saint West. As Kardashian was seen walking her children to their car, a paparazzo was heard asking the mother of four about an alleged incident in which Kanye West was accused of grabbing and throwing a woman’s phone.
“Hey Kim, what do you think of Kanye hitting someone…. The paparazzi’s phone?” the cameraman can be heard saying in a video obtained by Page Six.
The SKIMS founder then turns to the man and says directly, “Do not talk to me about that in front of my kids,” prompting the photographer to apologise to her.
In the clip, one of Kardashian’s children can also be heard shouting, “Please leave!”
Kanye West – who legally changed his name to Ye – was named suspect in a battery investigation on Friday after he was filmed during a heated exchange with a photographer, in which he eventually grabbed and threw the woman’s phone, according to TMZ.
The video shows West accusing the woman of following him, to which she responds that he’s a “celebrity” as she continues to record him. He then reaches into her car and grabs the woman’s phone, throwing it into the street before hopping into an SUV with his new wife, Bianca Censori.
A law enforcement source told TMZ that officials from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department were called to the scene around 4:30pm and were provided video evidence of the incident. It’s unclear whether the woman was a member of the paparazzi or a civilian who recognised the star.
Kardashian has prioritised protecting her children amidst her divorce from Kanye West, which was finalised in November 2022, and his subsequent public downfall.
The former couple began dating in 2012 and welcomed daughter North in 2013. The two were married during a lavish Italian wedding ceremony in 2014, and went on to welcome three more children: Saint, seven, Chicago, five, and Psalm, three.
Following their separation in 2021, West has often made details surrounding his relationship with Kardashian public, including their custody agreement and attacking her former boyfriend Pete Davidson on social media. Since then, West has sparked outrage after he made several antisemitic remarks, causing him to be dropped by his talent agency and multiple fashion brands over “hateful and dangerous” comments relating to Jewish people.
In December 2022, Kardashian described co-parenting with West as “f***ing hard” during an episode of the Angie Martinez IRL podcast.
“I had the best dad, and I had the best memories and the greatest experience and that’s all I want for my kids as long as they can have that,” Kardashian said. “That’s what I would want for them. If they don’t know the things that are being said or what’s happening in the world, why would I ever bring that energy to them? That’s really heavy grown-up s*** that they’re not ready to deal with.”
Kardashian added that she’ll be “prepared” for the day her children ask her about the controversy surrounding their father.
“One day my kids will thank me for sitting here and not bashing their dad when I could,” she told host Angie Martinez. “All the crazy s***. They’ll thank me and I’ll privately answer anything that they want to know. It’s not my place anymore to jump in.”
However, The Kardashians star admitted that she’s “holding on by a thread”.
“I definitely protected [Ye] and I still will in the eyes of my kids for my kids,” she said. “In my home, my kids don’t know anything that goes on in the outside world… I’m holding on by a thread. I know I’m so close to that not happening. While that’s still happening, I will protect that to the ends of the earth as long as I can.”
