Arguably more than any of her sisters, Khloé Kardashian has had to deal with scrutiny over the way she looks. After years of trolls comparing her unfavorably to her famous siblings, the Strong Looks Better Naked author has used her fitness routine to help her gain self-confidence. She also likes to change up her look and is no stranger to a good thirst trap. But the noise still affects her, and spending the last two decades in front of the camera — with the whole world being able to weigh in on everything from her weight to her love life — continues to take its toll.
The latest episode of The Kardashians, “Did Somebody Tape That?” showed the Revenge Body star prepping for an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, and she got candid as she talked with BFF Malika Haqq about her ongoing struggles with the unsolicited feedback she continues to face with every public appearance and social media post. Khloé Kardashian said social media has changed, to where now everything you say and post is picked apart and overanalyzed in such a negative way:
Social media used to be, you know, fun and silly. There was definitely always trolls. And now it’s, everything is so critical. The way I look, my situation with Tristan, is my hair done the right way? ‘What is she doing with that laugh? That, this? Oh my gosh, she said this.’ I think I’ve gotten to the point that it’s literally safer to stay at home.
Khloé Kardashian’s love life has been thrust into the public eye multiple times in her life. Her whirlwind romance with Lamar Odom — who, to this day, has strong feelings for his ex-wife — ended after the former NBA star’s infidelity and substance abuse issues came to light, and more recently she has weathered a number of cheating scandals with Tristan Thompson, culminating with him apologizing to Khloé after a paternity test revealed he had fathered a child with another woman. In fact, eagle-eyed fans were convinced a scene in The Kardashians’ premiere showed Thompson scared that Kim Kardashian had busted him in his latest scandal.
Khloé Kardashian hasn’t commented publicly on the paternity matter — though she did allegedly heckle her baby daddy during the premiere of their Hulu series — but with everybody putting their two cents into every aspect of her life, who can blame her for having anxiety over social media? She said tuning out all the negativity is obviously the goal, but it’s easier said than done:
It’s so easy for people to say, ’You don’t know them, don’t pay attention.’ Trust me, I try not to. But when you’re walking down the street and then even paparazzi’s heckling at you the same things that you’re trying to avoid, it’s so deteriorating on your self-esteem, your confidence, the way that you view yourself. And even anxiety to post photos on Instagram, I’m just anxious. Even when I barely did retouching, I’m so afraid to post it, because people are gonna say I did this, it’s like, ‘Aaah!’
It’s well-known that the Good American co-founder likes to touch up her photos before posting to social media, and that only invites more scrutiny, as trolls try to catch her in a Photoshop fail. She actually had to fess up to a big one recently, when fans realized that her celebration of daughter True’s first trip to Disneyland proved that she’d previously Photoshopped her daughter into a Disneyland photo with her cousin. The reality star said she still gets anxiety with every social media post. Tweeting after the latest episode of The Kardashians dropped, she said:
Every single time. I feel my pulse jump out of my skin. I can’t even look. I just post and ghost. I’ll get back to khlomoney soon.
We certainly would love to see Khloé Kardashian embody her alter ego and, as Malika Haqq advised, just tell the haters to “Fuck off.” It’s sad that she has to deal with so much negativity, but she has chosen to live her life in the public eye, and unfortunately that’s part of the job. (It still doesn’t make it right, though, trolls!) You can continue to watch Khloé do her thing on Hulu, with new episodes of The Kardashians available every Thursday. Be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see when new and returning shows are premiering.
