Inside Caitlyn Jenner's bitter estrangement from Kardashian clan
Caitlyn Jenner has had a tumultuous relationship with the Kardashian clan over the years.
Since she parted ways with Kris Jenner in 2013, the well-oiled publicity machine surrounding the famous family went into overdrive, but Caitlyn’s tell-all interviews eventually damaged her relationship with Kris, their daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and step-children Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob Kardashian.
The former Olympic athlete has made derogatory comments about being married to the iconic matriarch, and she recently took aim at her estranged family in the new docu-series House of Kardashian.
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Caitlyn, who is also father to Burt, Cassandra, Brandon and Brody from previous marriages, claimed her step-daughter Kim Kardashian was “calculated” about being famous, and cruelly laughed when asked about Kris managing his career following her win at the Olympic Games. But she quickly backtracked, and issued a statement which notably ignored Kris, and read: “I am incredibly proud of all my children and stepchildren.”
Inside Stormi Webster's birthday bash with giant rainbow slideHere, we take a look at Caitlyn’s fractured relationship with the famous family…
2015 - Caitlyn’s transition
The feud began almost 10 years ago, when Caitlyn revealed in an interview with Diane Sawyer that she identified as a woman, but her remarks stunned Kris and their daughters, who claimed that was the first time they had heard Caitlyn say she was transgender.
Just a few months later, in June 2015, the former athlete posed for the cover of a now-iconic edition of Vanity Fair, as she officially introduced herself to the world as Caitlyn. And in the accompanying interview, she criticised her ex-wife, and said the reason for their divorce was “20% gender and 80% the way I was treated.” She went on to accuse Kris of “mistreating” her, and said the momager “controlled the money”.
2016
Khloe fired back at her step-father in an interview with Howard Stern, as she claimed the family found out Caitlyn was transitioning during a meeting with E! producers, who mentioned “she was having a TV show about transitioning or something.” Khloe alleged Caitlyn would only talk about transitioning in front of the cameras, and said the family “didn’t know when he was going to start fully dressing as Caitlyn” and was upset about information being kept from her.
During an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians that same year, Kris is filmed getting a call from an angry Caitlyn, who accuses Khloe of “talking s**t” about her in the Howard Stern interview. Kris told her ex-husband she was devastated over the claims she made about her in her Vanity Fair interview, and screamed down the phone: “What do you think I said to you about Vanity Fair? You f***king say something nice or don’t say anything at all. All you said was negative s**t so now you know how I feel.”
Refusing to back down, Caitlyn chastised Khloe for “talking s**t about the family”, leaving Kris heartbroken. “Khloe isn’t out to get you. You were her father. You are her dad since she’s been 5 years old. Like, give her a break,” she sobbed.
2017
Caitlyn riled up her famous family once again with the release of her tell-all book The Secrets of My Life, which made shocking allegations about her marriage to Kris. In one passage, she claimed Kris knew she wanted to transition, as Caitlyn had confessed before they had sex.
The Family Stallone 'won't rival Kardashians' as clan 'isn't weird', expert says“I tell Kris about my gender issues before I make love to her. This will always be a subject of dispute between Kris and me as to how much she could intuit about my gender issues,” Caitlyn wrote. “She insists that she was taken by surprise by my ultimate transition to Caitlyn…I told her I dressed as a woman, and she knew I did because I did it several times in front of her after we were married.”
Kim and Khloe were furious when the book was released, and Kris tearily told her daughters “everything she said was made up”, as she broke down over the claims being made about her. “Why does everything have to be that Kris is such a b***h and an a**hole? I’ve never been so angry and disappointed in somebody in my whole life. I’m done,” Kris said during an episode of KUWTK.
2018
During an interview with Piers Morgan for his Life Stories series, Caitlyn claimed she had sent advance copies of her memoir to the Kardashians, but had left out the “last few pages when I talked about gender confirmation.”
When asked why, she said she “didn’t trust” the Kardashians, and believed the family would leak stories to the press if she revealed to them she had surgery. “I didn’t tell anybody. Why? It’s none of their business. It’s not that big a deal,” she said.
2022
Just last year, Kris surprised fans as she revealed she was on good terms with ex-husband Caitlyn, and said their relationship was “fine”. During an interview on Good Morning America, the momager said: “We’re fine. Yeah, we’re friends, and I see her when she’s at a family thing so it’s, you know, settled down a lot.”
She also candidly spoke about Caitlyn’s transition, and insisted she didn’t understand why it was never discussed ahead of her Vanity Fair cover story. “ think it was a big shock. It’s a scary thing to go through because you know nothing about it. It’s a subject I never thought that I would ever have to directly deal with (or) confront (or) be understanding about. Something that I didn’t you know, understand,” Kris explained.
2023
Just one year later, the relationship between Caitlyn and the Kardashians has completely broken down, and she confessed she talks to her ex-wife through their managers.
“Kris, I really never talk to anymore. If there’s any communication, my manager kind of talks to her,” she said on This Morning earlier this month. Caitlyn said she was much closer to Kylie and Kendall Jenner, who she shares with Kris, but has barely any contact with step-kids Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob.
”When you have as many kids as I have, you’re closer to some than you are to others… I certainly see them and we do this and that,” she shared. “I’m much closer to the Jenner side, but Kris, I don’t really have any more contact with her. It’s kind of sad because we went through a lot.”