By Gianna Porcek ‘20, Arts and Entertainment Writer

How does a crazy, dramatic, and somewhat “low-talent” family become one of the most-discussed groups of people in the media for over a decade? The answer: A killer marketing strategy orchestrated by the one and only Kris Kardashian/Jenner: mother of six, manager of her daughters, producer, author, businesswoman, and, most certainly, a publicity genius. While the Kardashians may be deemed “talentless”, Kris Jenner has worked hard to keep the Kardashian-Jenner empire relevant and thriving for over a decade. Whenever there is drama within the Kardashian family, it is immediately leaked or shared with major news outlets and is quickly republished by their followers all over the world. This, in turn, has led to some of the Kardashian’s greatest spikes in ratings and social media followings. One thing, though, that is particularly interesting about the several leaked rumors and scandals, is their timing.

Coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, some of the latest news that has spread about the Kardashian/Jenners has happened right before the season premieres of their reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The show closely follows the family’s day to day life in Calabasas, California where recent drama, news, and future plans are all shared with their 1.43 million viewers. So, how is Kris Jenner involved? She’s the producer, meaning she gets to control exactly what the world sees in sneak peeks, commercials, and social media. Most importantly, she controls exactly what is aired for the show.

After recent scandals, most often involving Kylie Jenner, many owning a social media account or those who follow the Kardashians can attest to the many memes involving Kris Jenner, specifically mentioning the quote, “The devil works hard, but Kris Jenner works harder”. People are starting to consider the ulterior motives behind the increased amount of family drama in the last few years. Here’s why…

Most notably, in September of 2017, after numerous news outlets leaked that Kylie Jenner was pregnant, they began focusing on Kylie’s peculiar choice of baggy clothing, attempts to stay hidden from paparazzi, and Instagram posts which often featured headshots or “throwback” pictures. Kylie’s sisters even stepped up to defend her by responding to tweets from news outlets speculating Kylie’s pregnancy calling them “fake stories”. Similarly, Kylie accused major magazines of photoshopping pictures the paparazzi took of her to make her body look “fuller” in support of the pregnancy rumors. And when did the Kardashian’s announcement for their 10 year anniversary of the show come out? You guessed it, also September of 2017. Not only was Kylie Jenner pregnant, but her sisters, Khloe and Kim, both announced they were also expecting children in the near future. Khloé confirmed on social media that she and her now ex-boyfriend, Tristan Thompson were expecting their first child while Kim Kardashian and her husband, Kanye West, were trying for their third child via surrogate. Coincidence? I think not.

But that’s not all. Just weeks before Khloé gave birth to her daughter, True, a video of Tristan Thompson cheating on Khloé Kardashian in October surfaced. Why didn’t the video surface earlier? Why months later, just weeks before Khloé was expected to give birth to their child? As if this wasn’t enough to upset Khloé, on February 19th 2019, Khloé and Tristan were officially over after Tristan shared a kiss with Kylie Jenner’s best friend, Jordyn Woods. Following their breakup Khloé has unfollowed Jordyn on Instagram, removed Jordyn’s pictures from her clothing line “Good American”, and has posted multiple quotes to her Instagram story indirectly addressing the situation. While all of this drama surfaced, it was also confirmed that the Kardashians were in the middle of filming the sixteenth season of their reality show. Was the show getting a little dry? After 15 aired seasons and the blowing over of Kylie’s pregnancy hysteria, Kris had to figure out some way to maintain an audience.

While it is highly unlikely Kris would purposely orchestrate or cause her family emotional harm for publicity, the timing of the family drama seems a bit too suspicious. Following the conspiracy theories on Twitter and Instagram, it has caused great conversation and many laughs amongst the Kardashians’ followers. After much speculation, you can’t help but wonder whether or not certain rumors are strategically released in order for the family to maintain their popularity and reign over the media. What does Kris Jenner have in store for us next? You may want to pay careful attention before the release of Season 17.