Kim Kardashian apologizes for defending vlogger with history of racist comments

Source: USA Today

August 15, 2017 at 18:19

Kim Kardashian came under fire after suggesting fans 'get over' racial comments Jeffree Star has made in the past. USA TODAY

Kim Kardashian was caught up Tuesday in another fraught racial situation, which resulted in an apology for defending someone with an alleged history of racist comments.

And all this happened as she was trying to promote the latest products in her makeup line during an online demonstration Monday.

A beauty vlogger, Jeffree Star, criticized her technique and her products online, prompting a backlash from fans of Kardashian.

She in turn defended Star, telling his critics to "Get over it." That prompted even more outrage from Star's foes, who dug up and posted some of the racist comments they claim he made years ago, including use of the N word. Star posted a video addressing past inflammatory comments in June.

In a video posted on her social media Tuesday, Kardashian pleaded for forgiveness from her fans for "defending a situation yesterday that I really didn't know enough about."

"I feel a bit naive and I do want to really apologize for me feeling like I had a right to say 'get over it' in a situation that involves racism, and I just don't really feel I have the right to speak on that," she said, repeating that she "really, really" wanted to apologize.

The dustup was the latest incident in which a star in the Kardashian-Jenner reality-TV clan has been slammed online for alleged racial missteps.

In April, Kardashian's younger half-sister, Kendall Jenner, was widely mocked for appearing in a misbegotten Pepsi ad that ripped off imagery from Black Lives Matter protests and showed Jenner trying to sooth race relations with a can of soda. Pepsi subsequently dumped the ad and apologized.

Kardashian, who is married to Kanye West and has two biracial children with him, also came under fire for allegations earlier this summer that she artificially darkened her skin in ads for her KKW Beauty line, with critics equating the photos to blackface.

Even before posting her apology video, Kardashian was hearing from fans and former fans on her Instagram page. "This is the end of your career I will never let this go," shouted one comment in all caps.