When the first season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered in 2007, Kylie Jenner was just 9 years old, which means she and sister Kendall have lived most of their lives in front of the cameras. There’s no doubt they — along with their Kardashian sisters — have benefited personally and professionally from the fame that reality TV brought them, but on the Season 3 finale of The Kardashians, the two youngest siblings of the pop culture dynasty got real about some of the terrible treatment they had to endure at the hands of the paparazzi while growing up, and Kylie likened the experience to what Britney Spears went through.
Kylie Jenner was discussing some of the rumors about her dating life that had been circulating, while out on a walk with Kendall Jenner and Scott Disick. This led to a conversation about one of the more unpleasant experiences she had with a photographer when she was still a teenager. Kylie recalled:
I remember when I was 19, I was wearing this colorful dress, and as I’m getting in the car, the [paparazzo dives, his] stomach’s on the ground, gets his camera up my skirt and takes a picture. I’m literally so violated. I’m crying in the car, I’m stressed out the whole night, the whole next day. Like this photo of my vagina is going to come out. Now I understand why this happens to other women — like the Britney Spears situation and shit.
That is truly disgusting behavior from the photographer, and it’s hard to imagine that this is what Kylie Jenner, Britney Spears and other young women have had to deal with on a regular basis when going out in public. Jenner continued, saying the photo did, in fact, get sold to the press. She said:
The photo came out on Daily Mail. You can see my underwear a little bit, in between my legs. And the caption was like, ‘Kylie, with little dignity,’ you know, like ‘with little respect for herself.’ Like you didn’t fully just violate me.
The Hulu documentary Framing Britney Spears raised awareness of that kind of behavior and how the paparazzi treated Britney Spears at the height of her career, even interviewing Daniel Ramos, the photographer who in 2007 provoked her into attacking his SUV with an umbrella when she was in the middle of a mental health crisis. Days before that she had grabbed a razor and shaved her head as paparazzi snapped photos. These actions were part of what resulted in the conservatorship that stripped her of her freedom for 13 years.
On The Kardashians episode, Kendall and Kylie Jenner also recalled other tactics they’ve had to deal with, including being 16 years old and having the paparazzi yell “the meanest things” at them, to try to get a reaction. They said the photographers would yell, “Hey, little sluts!” and ask when they were going to get naked and have a sex tape like sister Kim Kardashian.
No matter how rich or famous somebody is, this seems to cross a line, and hopefully through what we’ve learned from Britney Spears’ situation and stories like this from Kylie Jenner can help change what has been accepted in the past. The Kardashians is available for streaming with a Hulu subscription, and also be sure to check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon.
