CULTURE

Kim Kardashian Says Her Spon-Con Helps Fund Prison Reform

Apparently ads for flat tummy tea are not pure evil.


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Photo by Angela Weiss /AFP/via Getty Images

Kim Kardashian West’s spon-con is the stuff of legend. The reality star and her famous sisters can command up to a million dollars for a single post. And they’ve taken on a number of unsavory clients; celebrities like Jameela Jamil and Sophie Turner have called out the Kardashians for shilling harmful weight loss products, like those infamous detox teas.

On Wednesday, onstage at the New York Times Dealbook Conference, Kim and her momager, Kris Jenner, had a wide-ranging conversation, moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin, in which they covered everything from religion to Trump. (Kanye West of course piped in from the audience.) And Kim addressed the criticisms of her sponsored posts, saying that she takes on clients, even when they aren’t “on-brand,” in order to fund her work targeting criminal justice reform.

“If I have a paid post that comes in and I think, ‘O.K., well this can fund x amount of people that are behind bars, that can help free them with simple legal fees that they just can’t afford, then that would be worth it to me, even if the post might be a little bit off-brand for me,’” she said. It may be worth pointing out that Kim does make millions and millions of dollars with other ventures, money that could also be funneled into such causes. But it does make the flat tummy tea stuff seem a little less evil.

Kim also addressed the controversy surrounding her meetings with President Trump, claiming that the president has done “amazing things” when it comes to prison reform. (The president signed a criminal justice reform bill in December of 2018, the First Step Act, that had bi-partisan support; he has also publicly encouraged the police to be “rough” when arresting suspects.)

“But that was a big thing where so many people advised me, ‘Don’t go to the White House.’ And that didn’t make sense to me because I was like, if someone can get out of prison and get their life back versus my reputation of going to the White House — when there is only one person on this planet that can make the decision and that would be the president — and that was even a question for the media, that just absolutely didn’t make sense to me,” she said. “I would go see anyone in power that would have that decision to change someone’s life.”

She also reasserted her determination to become a lawyer, emphasizing that she’s continued her studies. “I love it and I just hope that one day I can start a firm that will help with prison reform,” she said. “I would love to hire these men and women that are behind bars because they know the law better than most lawyers.”