Even if you’re a dedicated follower of all things Kardashian, let’s be real, you probably don’t watch every single episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. I’m convinced nobody does. It’s a lot to follow, and honestly, the show isn’t that interesting a lot of the time. But if you haven’t been ~keeping up~ with KUWTK lately, you’ve actually been missing some major drama in America’s first family. Season 17 of KUWTK wrapped up on Sunday night, and the last couple episodes have seen Kourtney Kardashian feuding with her sisters in a way that feels different from past disagreements—and she may even leave the show because of it.
Starting last year, there was a lot of tension in Kourtney’s relationships with Kim and Khloé. I mean, who could forget the iconic scene when Kim called Kourtney “the least exciting to look at”? I aspire to be this shady, even towards my own siblings. There was also the time that Kourtney fully ignored Kim while she was talking about her baby shower, and then talked sh*t about Khloé’s furniture covers. Or the time when she passive-aggressively planned a trip with her kids so she wouldn’t be home for Christmas. Basically, Kourtney was not in the mood for family time for like, all of 2018 (same, girl), and it hasn’t gotten better since then.
This season, Kourtney has opened up about wanting to dedicate her time to being a mom, and being less into sharing her personal life on camera than she used to. Suffice it to say, Kim and Khloé haven’t been super happy about this. A couple episodes ago, they confronted Kourt about having too many boundaries, saying that it’s unfair that she won’t be open about her relationships in front of the cameras. Kim said that “all of the days that Kourtney isn’t filming, Khloé and I are picking up the slack and having to share more.” When Kourt said that her being open about her anxiety made up for not talking about her relationships, Khloé called bullsh*t, saying that the topic just came up naturally when they were already filming.
This conflict between the sisters has led to some of the most entertaining KUWTK moments in a long time, and I’m excited that they’re breaking the fourth wall in this way. These women are so famous that it doesn’t feel genuine to just watch them act like normal people on camera, so getting more of the behind the scenes drama is exactly what the show needs. After that argument went down, Kim apparently threatened to fire Kourtney over FaceTime, which I didn’t realize was a thing she could do. According to People sources, Kim doesn’t actually have firing power on the show, but I have a feeling she could make it happen if she pulled the right strings (aka asked her mom). You know she has Ryan Seacrest on speed dial for the day when Kourtney really does something to piss her off, and at this point, it’s only a matter of time.
Regardless of whether you’re Team Kourt or not, Kim and Khloé’s point about being open isn’t wrong. Their whole show is built on them airing their sh*t out for the world to see, and without the drama of their personal lives, they wouldn’t have made it to season 17. While we’ve watched Khloé experience heartbreak after heartbreak with multiple different partners, and Kim has basically forced Kanye to be on the show, Kourtney hasn’t really shown us anything about her relationships with Younes or anyone else. Khloé tweeted about this, clarifying that she’s fine with having some boundaries, but you have to be willing to really go there and be “present” with what you do choose to share. In an episode this season, Kim also said she feels like Kourtney has been “coasting” through filming, while she and Khloé carry most of the load. If they’re really all getting paid the same amount, that’s not super fair. However, I struggle to muster up much sympathy for any of these women, considering none of them need any of the money they get from filming.
If we all started concealing major areas of our life then what would there be to film? I’m completely OK with people having boundaries but you have to be present in the areas you’re willing to share #KUWTK
— Khloé (@khloekardashian) December 9, 2019
Over the last couple episodes of this season, Kourtney has talked about her desire to take a step back from the show, and honestly, I think that would be a good idea for her. If she really doesn’t want to put her personal life on camera, then the logical decision would be to take a break from being the star of a reality show. At the very least, she could take on a reduced role, so she could still be around, but wouldn’t be expected to bring the main storylines to the table. To me, this situation is similar to Lisa Vanderpump’s on the last season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills—she didn’t want to be there anymore, so it was time for her to go. These shows are always the most entertaining when everyone is bringing their A-game, and if Kourt isn’t prepared to do that right now, then she should leave. Do you think they would demote Kourtney to “friend of”?
So that’s all well and good, but do we actually think Kourtney will leave Keeping Up behind? Not really. Assuming Kim isn’t going to actually get Kourtney fired, I have a really hard time believing she will willingly turn her back on the vehicle that made her so successful in the first place. Of course she’s not starved for cash or anything, but she doesn’t have other major projects like her sisters do. And no, I didn’t forget about Poosh, I just don’t think running a glorified blog is the same as a billion-dollar cosmetics brand. Kourt might be more forceful about her boundaries, or stop filming with Kim for a while, but she’s not actually going anywhere.
Images: E! Entertainment / YouTube; khloekardashian / Twitter
