Last month, Kim Kardashian sparked backlash when she made light of her 9-year-old daughter North’s obvious discomfort at being in the public eye.
North had been sitting on the front row for Jean Paul Gaultier’s show at Paris Fashion Week, alongside her famous mom and Anna Wintour.
Clearly unhappy with the media attention that she was getting, the little girl held up a handwritten sign to the paparazzi that read: “Stop.”
A video of the moment gained traction online, and Kim reposted it to her social media page.
For anyone who knows North knows how funny she finds this video! North I guess had it with the people taking pictures of her so she wrote on her invite STOP and held it up and wanted them to just focus on the show… 😂🫶🏼🫣
“For anyone who knows North knows how funny she finds this video! North I guess had it with the people taking pictures of her so she wrote on her invite STOP and held it up and wanted them to just focus on the show,” she wrote at the time.
But Kim was met with criticism from her followers, with many questioning why she wasn’t taking her young daughter’s discomfort more seriously.
“If you know she don’t like the pics then why bring her to the FRONT ROW???” one person asked.
@KimKardashian If you know she don’t like the pics then why bring her to the FRONT ROW???
The backlash grew as others pointed out that, just days earlier, North had confronted the paparazzi directly while walking in Paris.
“Why do you have to wait for us all the time?” the clearly fed-up child asked the photographers, who continued to snap a ton of pictures as one yelled back: “Because you’re so famous. We love you, North!”
Kim was called out for seemingly pushing her daughter into the spotlight against her wishes, and some questioned why she’d even allowed North to walk ahead of her.
This was just the latest instance of North expressing how uncomfortable she is with being in the public eye, which first began in 2015.
When she was just 2 years old, North famously yelled: “No pictures!” at a swarm of waiting photographers, and it’s been more of the same ever since.
North is the oldest of four children. Kim and her ex-husband, Kanye West, are also mom and dad to 6-year-old Saint, 4-year-old Chicago, and 3-year-old Psalm.
And a resurfaced video that was captured when Kim took her daughters to American Dream last month seems to suggest that Chicago is just as uncomfortable with the attention as her big sister.
The clip was first posted by TikTok user @eddiesonnys123 last month, but garnered renewed attention recently after it was reposted by another account.
In the clip, Kim, Chicago, and North are walking out of the store Lush, and there is a swarm of screaming fans being held back by security guards.
North is a little bit ahead of the others, and looks unimpressed as she holds her finger to her mouth and tells the crowd to shush.
Kim is holding onto Chicago’s hand, and at one point the person filming rotates the camera to show just how big the waiting crowd is, with people even watching the commotion from the floors above.
As the fans continue to scream and yell “I love you” to the family, Kim waves and gets into a waiting golf buggy, with Chicago then placed onto her lap.
The crowd then began to shout for Chicago’s attention to tell her how cute she is, but she doesn’t look happy as she leans into her mom, unsmiling.
While some people viewing the TikTok focused on North’s behavior in the video and called her “iconic” for channeling her dad’s no-nonsense energy, others pointed out that this was actually no laughing matter.
In fact, many commented to say that Chicago looked “scared” and shared their sadness for the kids’ lack of normality.
“I can’t even imagine how terrifying that would be to her younger children,” one person wrote. Another added: “The baby is so scared.”
One more asked: “Ummmm North told y’all to be quiet, why y’all still screaming??” Someone else said: “This is actually such a sad life, I could imagine being this famous would get old and you just wanna be a normal person.”
“That’s so scary for her children,” another wrote. A fellow user echoed: “Chi looks scared omg I would too w/ all the screaming.”
One person remarked: “I feel so bad that they’ll never have a normal life. Must be so much pressure. Money isn’t everything people.” Someone else agreed: “They look sad, this is too much.”
“It’s so sad to see this for little kids so many people just screaming at them,” another person added. And one more concluded: “Nothing in this world would make me live that kind of life.”
Kim previously revealed that she and her sister, Kourtney Kardashian, regularly talk to their kids about their fame in a bid to explain the commotion everywhere that they go.
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2019, the star said: “Kourtney and I have sat our kids down and had little conversations with them, and as they get older we’ll continue to have that conversation and just explain it to them.”
Kourtney’s oldest child, 12-year-old Mason, has entirely stepped back from the spotlight in recent years, with Kourtney respecting his wishes to not be posted on social media or feature too much in their family reality show, The Kardashians.
Critics have pointed out that this, and the way other celebrities vehemently maintain their children’s privacy, proves that it can be done, as they criticized Kim for keeping her own kids in the public eye.
“Mason (Kourtney’s son) told his mom that he didn’t want to be in the public eye and she respected that and doesn’t even let them film him for the show. Kim could do the same but chooses not to,” one person wrote in response to North’s Fashion Week moment.
@shestoohot_ @Bisexual_titty @Lisa01574579 @haltercroptop Mason (Kourtneys son) told his mom that he didn’t want to be in the public eye and she respected that and doesn’t even let them film him for the show. Kim could do the same but chooses not to.
“I mean if Beyoncé, Micheal Jackson, Kristen Bell, Pink, Brenda Song, and many other celebrities are able to shield and protect their children from paps why can't Kim,” another agreed. “She has the resources and connections that if she wanted to take North to a private show w/o paps she could.”
@shestoohot_ @Lisa01574579 @haltercroptop I mean if Beyoncé, Micheal Jackson, Kristen Bell, Pink, Brenda Song, and many other celebrities are able to shield and protect their children from paps why can't Kim. She has the resources and connections that if she wanted to take North to a private show w/o paps she could js.