In July, Kim Kardashian expressed her regret for initially naming her shapewear line Kimono. After she announced the new business venture, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star was swiftly hit with major backlash as she was accused of cultural appropriation for using the name of a traditional Japanese garment. Even the mayor of Kyoto wrote her a letter explaining why the name was inappropriate.
But the November 17 episode of KUWTK gave new insight into the scandal and made fans wonder if Kim was really sorry about what she’d done. In the episode, she discussed the drama with Scott Disick.
“They’re saying I’m cultural appropriating,” the 39-year-old explained about the reaction to her line. “Who would ever think that I would want to do something that would be disrespectful?” she asked.
They discussed what a financial burden it would be to come up with a new name, since “Kimono” was already on many of the products already in production.
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“If I could just say, ‘Change the name,’ and it would be that easy then I would do it in a heartbeat,” she told Scott, 36.
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She said “hundreds of thousands” of products were in production under the name, adding, “We would lose, like, $10 million dollars.” Kim was hesitant to make any changes at all.
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The KKW Beauty founder seemed flabbergasted that people found the name offensive. She told the camera, “We brought the name to retailers. There was a lot of people that could have chimed in and said that they felt like this was not an appropriate brand name, and nobody did. Foolishly and ignorantly, we never thought it would be a problem.”
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Photo credit: INSTARImages
Still, the reality star wasn’t going
to change the name. That is, until she saw the letter from the mayor of Kyoto floating around online. “I do think it's important to think about what he said,” Kim’s publicist urged her.
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“
Reading that letter I felt an understanding,” Kim said during her confessional. “I definitely did not want to disrespect a culture. That's not what the brand is even about. It's about inclusivity, it's about comfort. It's not about making people uncomfortable.”
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Photo credit: INSTARImages
Her team finally brainstormed new ideas and
eventually landed on Skims. They decided to cover the old “Kimono” labels on most of the products.
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But fans on social media weren’t buying Kim’s story while the episode aired. “How did no one on Kim’s team not think that Kimono probably wasn’t the best name?” one person asked on Twitter.
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Photo credit: INSTARImages
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Photo credit: INSTARImages
“Kim travels so much but she learns [zero] about culture or she doesn't care,” another wrote. Others wondered if everyone agreed to the original name simply because they didn’t want to say no to Kim Kardashian.
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Photo credit: INSTARImages
What do you think of Kim’s reaction to the Kimono drama? Sound off in the comments!
“If I could just say, ‘Change the name,’ and it would be that easy then I would do it in a heartbeat,” she told Scott, 36.
She said “hundreds of thousands” of products were in production under the name, adding, “We would lose, like, $10 million dollars.” Kim was hesitant to make any changes at all.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
The KKW Beauty founder seemed flabbergasted that people found the name offensive. She told the camera, “We brought the name to retailers. There was a lot of people that could have chimed in and said that they felt like this was not an appropriate brand name, and nobody did. Foolishly and ignorantly, we never thought it would be a problem.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Still, the reality star wasn’t going
to change the name. That is, until she saw the letter from the mayor of Kyoto floating around online. “I do think it's important to think about what he said,” Kim’s publicist urged her.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
“
Reading that letter I felt an understanding,” Kim said during her confessional. “I definitely did not want to disrespect a culture. That's not what the brand is even about. It's about inclusivity, it's about comfort. It's not about making people uncomfortable.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Her team finally brainstormed new ideas and
eventually landed on Skims. They decided to cover the old “Kimono” labels on most of the products.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
But fans on social media weren’t buying Kim’s story while the episode aired. “How did no one on Kim’s team not think that Kimono probably wasn’t the best name?” one person asked on Twitter.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Photo credit: INSTARImages
“Kim travels so much but she learns [zero] about culture or she doesn't care,” another wrote. Others wondered if everyone agreed to the original name simply because they didn’t want to say no to Kim Kardashian.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
What do you think of Kim’s reaction to the Kimono drama? Sound off in the comments!
Photo credit: INSTARImages
