This is an excerpt from Kim, There’s People That Are Watching, BuzzFeed News’ brand-new newsletter dedicated to the 20th and final season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. You can sign up here.
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Over the last 14 years, the Kardashians have dominated pop culture and built a brand worth $2 billion, but many of their biggest career successes stemmed from scandal. Each week, we take a look back at how the family's most kontroversial moments have defined their lives and empire.

This week, we're looking back at several ~kontroversial~ on-camera moments from Kimye's marriage that paved the way for their eventual divorce.

Kim was in the middle of shooting a confessional for KUWTK when her phone rang. Turning worriedly to the producers, she said: "Kanye's doing TMZ Live right now."

Moments later, Kanye went on air and announced to the world that he believed "slavery was a choice."

A month after the TMZ appearance, Kanye revealed that his comments had not only caused universal outrage, but also pushed his marriage to the brink.

Kim would confirm that she "cried and fought" with Kanye for a week over the comments, and three months later an entire KUWTK episode was dedicated to their marital struggles.

During the episode, Kim confessed that Kanye was feeling "neglected" after the recent birth of their third child.
She detailed two arguments they'd had — the first over her refusal to post six images he wanted uploaded to her Instagram, the second after he demanded she find him a Band-Aid rather than spend time with their son.

Whether or not the episode was a conscious effort by Kim to distance herself publicly from Kanye's TMZ comments, it certainly marked a turning point for the relationship and fractured the illusion of Kimye as the perfect power couple.

And a year later, tensions had frayed further in an episode where the pair openly argued on camera.

"You are my wife, and it affects me when pictures are too sexy," Kanye told her.

"You're giving me really bad anxiety," Kim shot back. "You built me up to be this sexy person and have confidence. Just because you're on your journey and you're on a transformation doesn't mean that I’m in the same spot as you."

Kanye swiftly left the room, with Kim shouting that he was "being absolutely ridiculous," as the door slammed behind him.
