Kim Kardashian West Offers Rare Insight into Her Politics

Kim Kardashian West is right up there among celebrities in only doing press when she has something to promote. But she doesn’t even make mention of KKW Beauty or Skims in her latest interview, which appears, of all places, on a niche political podcast that bills itself as “uncancellable” (and has just 12 ratings on its platform, Spotify). Its host, Bari Weiss, is pretty much the opposite of Kardashian West when it comes to discussing politics: The former New York Times opinion writer is rather infamous for her loud and oft controversial takes. And somehow, she managed to get Kardashian West to share some of her own. (Well, at least the closest we’ve ever gotten to them.)

Per the transcript published on Weiss’s Substack, the conversation starts and ends normally enough. Kardashian West begins by reflecting on how she just passed the “baby bar” exam, putting her one step closer to becoming a lawyer, and Weiss closes things out with a lightning round of questions like whether Kardashian West prefers boobs or butts. (In case you’re wondering, it’s the latter.) In between, she adds more depth to questions on politics she’s answered before and responds to a few new ones. Read the highlights below.

She has no regrets about working with Trump.

You might think Kardashian West would want to erase the Trump of it all from her beginnings in criminal justice reform. But she was the first to raise her relationship with the administration, telling Weiss that the first person she called about the case of Alice Marie Johnson was Ivanka Trump. Kardashian West continued to work with the former president well after he granted Johnson clemency, reportedly even influencing his support of the First Step Act. And three years later, she has no regrets. “I really don’t care about the criticism,” she said. “I mean, my reputation over someone’s life? Destroy me then. I really don’t care. It was not even an option. And he did the right thing.”

“I’m just about doing the right thing,” Kardashian West continued. “I’m really not about politics at all. It’s really about the people inside and if I can do anything—no matter if it’s Obama, Biden, Trump, I’m willing to work with anybody.” Per usual, she had nothing negative to say about the latter.

She’s changed her mind about Kanye’s MAGA hat.

Like plenty of others backstage, Kardashian West did not want her then-husband to wear a MAGA hat during his 2018 appearance on Saturday Night Live. “I’m very neutral, but that night I was very forceful with him, and argued with him like, ‘You have to take that hat off,’” she recalled, describing herself as “very nervous. “And now looking back, I think, why should he take that off if that’s what he believes in? Why can’t he wear that on TV? Half of the country voted for him, so clearly other people like him.”

She supports others in wearing the hat, too.

“I learned a lot from that situation,” Kardashian West continued. “No matter what, it taught me to be a little bit more empathetic for people that just want to do what they want to do: freedom of speech! And if you want to wear the hat, wear the hat.” Looking back, she “respect[s]” and “admir[es]” how West always stood by what he believed in. “To me, that’s a good quality to have, no matter who is against you and no matter what the circumstances are,” she said. “Even if it’s not what I agree with, or even if I would have done it differently, I think it’s commendable.”

She thinks “cancel culture” is “the most ridiculous thing.”

Don’t get Kardashian West wrong: When it comes to cultural appropriation, she doesn’t “want to take anything lightly.” That was especially true in the wake of the backlash surrounding “Kimono,” the original name of her shapewear company. “When I got a letter from the Japanese officials, I took it extremely seriously,” she said. “It wasn’t even a question. I immediately halted production, and there were a lot of pieces in production. I said, ‘Give me a week,’ and I had to think of a new name.”

But as far as Kardashian West is concerned, not all outrage warrants a response. “Still, if I worried about every last thing that someone said and I had to try to change it, then I would never be me. Anyone wouldn’t be them!,” she continued. “That’s why I think cancel culture is the most ridiculous thing, because I really do believe…in rehabilitation and freedom of speech. I’ve never really been into cancel culture.” (She noted that the topic has arisen at several dinners she’s attended with Weiss, who has repeatedly and vehemently denounced her idea of “cancel culture.”)

She won’t commit to the labels “Democrat” or “Republican”—nor even “feminist.”

“I don’t really like titles,” Kardashian West said when asked if she was a feminist. “I believe in fighting for women 100 percent, but I just also believe in fighting for what’s right.” She was a bit clearer when it came to political parties, describing herself as “a mix of both”: “I believe in the rights that the Democrats want, but I believe in the taxes that the Republicans want.”

She has no (current) plans to run for office.

“As of right now, no,” Kardashian West said when asked if she will ever pursue a career as a politician. “I understand the responsibility, and it’s an extremely hard job, and I don't know if I’d ever want that.” If only Ye felt similarly.