Kylie Jenner has reflected on a paparazzi “horror story” she experienced when she was just 16 years old.
The owner of her eponymous juggernaut, Kylie Cosmetics, said she endured constant aggression, tasteless regard, and nasty speech being directed toward her at a young age, especially from paparazzi. At the time, her family was building what would become their multi-billion-dollar dynasty, using their reality show, Keeping Up with The Kardashians, to streamline the process. Jenner was only nine years old when the first season aired.
Speaking to Jennifer Lawrence for Interview Magazine’s Winter 2023 issue, the beauty mogul spoke about regular run-ins she had with photographers when she was 16 years old.
“But with the paparazzi, it’s been really hard. I’ve had some horror stories,” she told the Hunger Games star. “Just, like, when I was 16 and these 50-year-old men were saying: ‘Hi, little sl**.’”
“Trying to shoot up my skirt and jumping out of the bushes, scaring me, blocking my car,” Jenner added. “It was actually worse when I was younger.”
Now, Jenner, a mother of two, thinks back to her childhood and can’t imagine experiencing an upbringing without fame.
“I don’t really know what it would be like to grow up not in the spotlight, and that’s helped me because I have nothing to refer back to,” the brand creator noted.
In tandem with the effect of her family’s increasing stardom, Jenner explained how their circumstances have led to an unbreakable bond between her sisters. Lawrence pointed out how no matter the nature of their fueds, the Kardashian-Jenner siblings always seem to work it out and continue seeing each other almost every day.
“What strikes me is that you guys are arguably the closest family in the world for emotional reasons, and then also a lot of very good multimillion-dollar reasons. I think it’s wonderful, but I can also imagine that it’s really hard,” the Silver Linings Playbook lead said to Jenner. “Like in the latest episode with Kim and Kourtney, in a normal family, you’d be like: ‘Okay, we don’t really see eye to eye on anything and it’s causing us both stress. I love you. I’ll see you at Christmas.’ But you guys can’t ever do that. You can’t really ever take space.”
“We can’t really take space because we work together. But at the end of the day, we are all obsessed with each other and would probably choose each other as friends if we weren’t family,” Jenner proclaimed.
“It’s hard to find people who understand your life. It’s such a rare thing that we’re all going through in this business and with fame,” she added. “So to have each other to lean on has been really important and the reason why I’ve been able to stay humble.”
The billionaire entrepreneur went on to address the security level she keeps for herself and her two children – Stormi, five, Aire, one. Jenner said she didn’t take the security precautions until her first pregnancy.
“I was young when I got pregnant, but I never had security until I got pregnant. I have two security in rotation for them and they have been with me for five-plus years,” she remarked.
On Stormi’s relationship with the security guards, Jenner said: “She’s very familiar with them, which I feel comfortable with. She actually has a lot of love for them. I just tell my security to not make it so serious, so they have a good relationship.”
The Independent has contacted a representative for Jenner for comment.
