To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Kim Kardashian has admitted a controversial photoshoot involving a 16-year-old Justin Bieber was ‘not the most appropriate thing.’
In an instance indicative of the strangeness of culture in 2010, a photoshoot for Elle Magazine saw teenage Bieber and a 29-year-old Kardashian romping around playfully on the beach, flirting and implying something romantic was just moments away from happening.
Inspired by the 1967 movie The Graduate, in which a young man is seduced by a much older married woman, the shoot was intentionally playing with Mrs Robinson-style stereotypes of sexual indiscretion.
It was, understandably, controversial at the time, given Bieber’s tender age, but Kardashian never commented on the discourse – until now.
Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, the reality TV icon said: ‘I think I’m gonna get canceled if I say it. Like, I don’t know who approved this, and I don’t know who thought that this was normal, this narrative. But I did a photo shoot with Justin Bieber, and he was 16 years old. And I don’t know how old I was.’
The SKIMS founder added: ‘Nothing ever weird was obviously happening, and like, I just think that was like an odd concept and why none of us thought that that was odd at the time. But now we look back and I’m like, that would have not been the most appropriate thing.’
She also revealed that Bieber’s girlfriend at the time, Selena Gomez, was present on the set.
She said: ‘His girlfriend was there, his parents were. I mean, it was like nothing creepy at all. But I look back and I’m like, that’s the one thing that I feel like, you know, he’s like a good dear friend of ours and the whole family, but like, who thought that that was a good idea?’
Explaining to Cooper the narrative of the now infamous shoot, Kardashian continued: ‘It was a story of what’s that story with the teacher and the student, the graduate. The graduate. I just feel like nothing ever weird was obviously happening and it was just an odd concept and why none of us thought that that was odd at the time.
‘But now we look back and I’m like “that would have not been the most appropriate thing.”’
Fans on social media were quick to react to the podcast clip, with some voicing disapproval that Kardashian didn’t take more accountability for the shoot, while others deemed it understandable that she didn’t put a stop to it at the time.
Reddit user groovygrandfather wrote: ‘Blaming it on whatever arbitrary person approved it rather than her who was in the actual shoot.’
heavens-arena999 agreed, chiming in: ‘“Idk who approved this and who thought this was normal” bro what? Take some accountability, you’re literally the one in the photoshoot with him??’
But Apart-Feature6395 disagreed, posting: ‘She’s going to shoots every week and she doesn’t control the subject matter. She just follows the directors instructions and goes about her day. Studio execs are the creepy people.’
Confident_Lychee7622 took a more measured approach, writing: ‘She does acknowledge this though she says “Why none of us…” I get what she’s saying. She didn’t come up with the idea but she also didn’t say Hey this is inappropriate, I’m not doing that. And now looking back she’s like why didn’t any of us think that was inappropriate.
‘I mean the public did the same thing. We accepted it at the time and then looking back we all condemned them. Why didn’t we cancel them at the time? For some reason it struck me as a little odd at the time but it also didn’t seem out of the ordinary w what we saw at the time. Like with where pop culture was at the time.’
While it remains up for debate whether Kardashian should take some retroactive responsibility for the shoot, fans can at least rest easy knowing she will think a little more carefully about future shoots.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.