Believe it or not, there was once a time when Kylie Jenner was considered to be one of the most relatable celebrities.
Before she was a billionaire business mogul, the youngest of the KarJenner sisters was known by her online alias “King Kylie,” and she would film herself doing normal teenage things like pranking her family and experimenting with her hair and makeup.
Despite her fame and fortune, Kylie was always able to maintain an air of normalcy around her through her social media posts, but as she got more successful her King Kylie persona slowly faded away.
By the time her daughter, Stormi, was born in 2018, Kylie had taken a huge step back from the internet, as well as her family reality shows.
However, after giving birth to her second child earlier this year, fans began to see glimmers of the old Kylie as they started to theorize that she was rebranding back to her most iconic era.
While her Instagram grid still remains mostly professional and heavily curated, Kylie has been using her story and growing TikTok page for more lighthearted uploads.
She has once again been showcasing her fun-loving personality in an apparent attempt to try to claw back some of the relatability that made her so appealing to fans all those years ago.
Her efforts have included videos of herself cooking, poking fun at her sister Kendall Jenner, and even messing around with Stormi to showcase their endearing mother–daughter dynamic.
But just as the star’s King Kylie comeback was gaining traction, she seemingly shattered any illusion of her being just like us regular folks with one controversial Instagram post.
Over the weekend, Kylie sparked huge backlash when she shared a black-and-white photo of herself and her partner, Travis Scott, embracing in between two private jets.
“You wanna take mine or yours?” she captioned the post, but it turned out not to be the flex that she thought it was.
In fact, Kylie ended up being branded “a full time climate criminal” as the upload went viral on Twitter, with people horrified to see the billionaire “bragging” about “her absolute disregard for the planet.”
The backlash spurred some on to delve deeper into her $72.8 million jet’s flight history, and they discovered that it had been used for flights as short as three minutes — which would have taken just 40 minutes by car.
Kylie Jenner's Jet Took off from Camarillo, California, US. Going to Van Nuys, California, US (VNY, Van Nuys Airport) arriving in ~3m.
Kylie’s jet also takes regular flights that are less than 15 minutes each, and critics pointed out the devastating impact that private planes have on the environment amid the growing climate crisis.
Kylie Jenner's Jet Landed in Camarillo, California, US. Apx. flt. time 12 Mins.
Transport & Environment reported in May 2021 that they are 5 to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes, and emit two tons of CO2 in just one hour.
As well as the eco impact of Kylie’s flights, the star was branded “out of touch" for flaunting her wealth as many people across the globe struggle to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
“Says a lot about how out of touch the Kardashian/Jenner clan are when Kylie thinks now, when most of the world is struggling with basic living costs, is the perfect time to post a photo bragging about private planes,” one person tweeted. “Read the room ya daft spoon. Actually fucking chronic.”
Says a lot about how out of touch the Kardashian/Jenner clan are when Kylie thinks now, when most of the world is struggling with basic living costs, is the perfect time to post a photo bragging about private planes. Read the room ya daft spoon. Actually fucking chronic.
Amid the mounting backlash against Kylie, the star took to her TikTok page on Monday to share a video from a recent trip to Target.
In the clip, Kylie is pushing Stormi and two of her nieces in a shopping cart as they all share their excitement at visiting the chain store.
She filmed inside the seemingly empty shop as the girls picked out some toys, which were then piled up onto the conveyor belt at checkout.
“Surprise target trip with my girls,” she wrote in the caption, but many questioned the timing of the video.
Redditors discussing the post branded the Target trip as “damage control,” and people claimed that Kylie posted it to try to seem “relatable” after her misguided private jet flex.
“She’s just trying to appeal to us peasants that she’s relatable and down to earth after the backlash she got 🙄🙄” one person wrote. Another agreed: “Trying to act so relatable after the clueless [unrelatable] his/her plane post #outoftouch”
“She's trying to cosplay as middle class after the private jet post,” another person echoed. While one more simply remarked: “What in the damage control.”
And if that was Kylie’s plan, then it wasn’t working, with one user dryly pointing out: “Tries to be more ‘normal’ after the jet post, but buys 300$ worth of toys.”
Another wrote: “Is this her attempt to ‘look relatable’ after the private jet debacle? Sis your rich you could buy the target and own it. Poverty cos play is not a good look.”
Others pointed out how empty the shop looked as they questioned whether she’d closed down the store to make the video.
“Imagine not being able to go to your local Target on your day off because Kylie Jenner rented it out,” one person commented. Another added: “Shop with a store full of normal people so I know it’s real.”
The Target trip comes just months after Kylie and her mom, Kris Jenner, sparked fierce backlash for their reaction to going to a grocery store on their reality show The Kardashians.
The two were branded “out of touch” as they shared their excitement at things regular people do every day, such as paying for their groceries at the checkout and pushing the cart.
“[I] thought the ‘day of normal errands’ with Kris and Kylie would be cute but it's SO GROSS. We know they're out of touch, we don't need to see just how out of touch,” one person tweeted at the time.
#TheKardashians thought the "day of normal errands" with Kris and Kylie would be cute but it's SO GROSS. We know they're out of touch, we don't need to see just how out of touch. Kris didn't know how to use her credit card and was so excited to push the cart. Is she 5.
“Kylie and Kris calling going to the grocery store and checking out and filling their cart an experience is the most white rich privileged thing I’ve seen,” another agreed.
