CULTURE

Kylie Jenner Announces Birth of Daughter on Instagram

And apologizes for keeping us in the dark.


Kylie Jenner
Denise Truscello/Getty Images

After months of speculation, Kylie Jenner not only confirmed that she was pregnant, but that her baby girl arrived on February 1st. There was no major reveal on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, via magazine cover, or by any other spectacular fashion. Jenner simply announced the birth by updating Instagram and Twitter. “There was no gotcha moment. No big paid reveal I had planned,” she wrote. “I knew my baby would feel every stress and every emotion so I chose to do it this way for my little life and our happiness.”

The initial text posting, in which she apologizes for keeping things a secret for the past nine months, was also quickly followed up with an 11 minute video of some footage from her life over the past nine months. It includes Jenner tenderly embracing her partner and the baby’s father Travis Scott on a beach. The video also contains the first public footage of none other that Chicago West, the newest daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Turns out that most of those silly conspiracy theories that had circulated around the web for the past year were just that: silly conspiracy theories. Though, Jenner does still live the world in the dark about the child’s name.

Travis Scott also had his own way of announcing the birth of his daughter on Twitter:

Reports first surfaced that Jenner was with child in late September, yet the 20-year-old beauty mogul never confirmed or denied the news herself — neither did Scott or any members of her famous family — leaving the world to rely on quotes from anonymous “sources” about the status of the star’s supposed pregnancy and to search for vague baby hints among her infrequent postings to social media. And even though Kylie clearly hoped to maintain her privacy during this time by staying far, far away from any red carpets and avoiding public outings, there has been much fervor over sightings of the reality star, including a fake photo apparently involving a body double.

And Kylie’s new addition isn’t the only one. Kanye and Kim Kardashian West welcomed their third child via gestational carrier; Chicago West was born on January 15. Meanwhile, yet another baby cousin is still on the way. Khloé Kardashian is currently expecting her first child, with NBA player Tristan Thompson. Keeping up with the Kardashians just keeps getting harder.

Related: Chicago West Makes Public Debut in Kylie Jenner’s Pregnancy Announcement Video

A Celebration of Kylie Jenner’s 20 Years of Not Letting the Critics Get Her Down

In 2011, Tyga and Kylie first met at Kendall Jenner’s Sweet Sixteen, where the rapper performed. Kylie was 14 at the time. Three years later, Tyga ended his engagement with Blac Chyna, the mother of his son King Cairo—and shortly after, began appearing on Kylie’s Instagram, prompting rumors they were dating. Both Kylie and Tyga denied the relationship—though it was the subject of a line in Drake’s “6 p.m. in New York” and the topic of some scathing words from Amber Rose—until the following year, when Kanye West let slip on The Breakfast Club. The gist of the controversy: Kylie and Tyga’s wide age gap, and the appearance that he left Blac Chyna for a teenager.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

After Kylie launched Kylie Cosmetics with her eponymous lip kits, some beauty bloggers noted distinct similarities to ColourPop’s far more affordable range; parent company Seed Cosmetics later confirmed it manufactured both ColourPop and Kylie Cosmetics.

@kyliejenner

Kylie Cosmetics has been at the center of many of its founder’s controversies over the past two years—both because of the beauty brand itself, and because it has presented Kylie with a massive platform. For the brand’s Holiday 2016 campaign, which debuted in September, it released an image of gold-painted fingers framing a deep, cranberry lip—mirroring almost exactly an image by makeup artist Vlada Haggerty. Haggerty filed a suit against Kylie Cosmetics, but the feud was resolved before any court battle began.

@vladamua

Considering the previous Tyga drama, someone might have advised Kylie that naming one of her new blushes “Barely Legal” might not be the best plan.

@kyliejenner

Earlier this year, Kylie, one of the celebrity faces of Puma (like Rihanna, and like The Weeknd), appeared in a campaign in which she was depicted mid-running stride, in one image, and springing up into the air as if on a trampoline, in another. Just as her sister Kendall before her was criticized for appearing in a ballet-themed Vogue España editorial, Kylie was criticized for ostensibly taking the place of a real athlete in the campaign. Complaints about her running form—her feet not flexed properly, her knees not at the right angle—abounded, and then subsided in time for Kylie to appear in another campaign several months later.

@puma

Just after her brother Rob Kardashian was embroiled in his own controversy with ex-girlfriend Blac Chyna (the same Blac Chyna who was once engaged to Tyga), Kylie tapped her brother, sock entrepreneur and founder of Arthur George, to collaborate with Kylie Cosmetics. Many questioned the timing of the collaboration, as it was unveiled just after Rob had unleashed an Instagram tirade, including several graphic photos (that Chyna had not consented to be released), against his former girlfriend.

Denise Truscello/Getty Images

In the midst of building a beauty empire, Kylie also manages to balance collaborating with her elder sister Kendall on their Kendall + Kylie clothing label. As part of the brand’s most recent drop, the sisters debuted new “vintage” merch, featuring iconic images of the likes of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. with Kendall and Kylie’s own likenesses splashed over the front. The families and estates of the late rappers, as well as other artists featured in the collection, immediately struck back—and the tees were promptly pulled from Kendall + Kylie. (Since then, Kendall + Kylie has been struck by several lawsuits.)

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