Kim Kardashian is finally back.
Following about three months away from the spotlight, the mother of two returned to social media in early 2017 via an onslaught of new family photos.
They featured Kim and (soon-to-be-ex?) husband Kanye West at home, just hanging out, chilling, spending time with their children.
They offered fans a rare glimpse into the private world of this global superstar.
So why is Kim now the subject of some pretty intense backlash?
Because a handful of critics out there are taking Kardashian to task for her supposedly overt attempt to “act poor.”
After the reality star got robbed of millions of dollars worth of jewelry in Paris back in early October, some Internet users have noticed how hard Kim is trying to now come across as normal.
The pictures depict her without much make-up on… sitting on a shaggy carpet… relaxing on an old couch… one image centers on Kanye eating instant noodles out of a bowl in the kitchen.
“Lets act poor for the aesthetic. How rude to people who are actually poor,” one hater wrote of the following snapshot, while another added:
“Poverty is not an aesthetic.”
Added yet another:
“Wats with the same outfit and rusty background like your not living in a luxury mansion, but a clapped up shelter house with cheap furniture?”
This is actually a somewhat interesting topic and debate.
On one side, it’s easy to see why Kim would choose to show a different side of herself and her family online.
She previously flaunted her wealth and her lifestyle at nearly all times, posing with her diamond rings prominent; taking pictures of herself on the grounds of her mansion.
And while she cannot reasonably be blamed for what happened to her in Paris, it’s easy to see why it’s a bad idea for any celebrity to be so open about his or her riches.
Insiders have said that the assailants who robbed Kim of a $ 4 million ring learned about said ring as a result of Kim’s Instagram photos.
So, in the aftermath of this horrific incident, of course Kardashian should take a different approach to social media.
Then again… come on now.
Kim and Kanye are still multi, multi, multi-millionaires. The former is off on a trip to Dubai as we type.
It’s most definitely a smart move to scale back on how many photos feature gold-plated toilets, for instance.
But we can understand how many people out there are conditioned to see everything Kardashian and her family does as being fake, as putting public relations and image and reputation above all else.
So can one really be blamed for viewing these pictures as a mere PR stunt? And being turned off by the notion of Kim pretending like she’s suddenly middle class?
Elsewhere, according to French newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche, Kardashian first spoke to authorities about the robbery around 4:30 a.m. on Monday, October 3.
She told police in her apartment that she returned there with sister Kourtney Kardashian and stylist Simone Harouche and went upstairs to work on her computer after they went out for the night.
“I heard a noise at the door, like footsteps, and I shouted, asking, ‘Who’s there?’ ” she said, according to the report.
“No one answered. I called my bodyguard at 2:56 a.m. Through the door, I saw two people arrive, plus the night man who was tied up.”
The men donned ski goggles and were dressed like cops, she continued.
“It’s the one with the ski goggles who stayed with me,” she said. “He demanded with a strong French accent, my ring. It was on the bedside table. It’s worth 4 million dollars. … I told him that I didn’t know, he took out a gun and I showed him the ring.
“They grabbed me and took me into the hallway. I was wearing a bathrobe, naked underneath. Then we went in the room again and they pushed me on the bed.
“And, it was this time, they tied me up with plastic cables and taped my hands, then they put tape over my mouth and my legs.”
Kim proceeded to outline in detail what had been taken from her room.
This included two diamond Cartier bracelets, a gold and diamond Jacob necklace, Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings and a gold Rolex.
“I think they robbed me of 5 million dollars,” she said. “Then they left on the run… I felt they were a bit inexperienced because of the way they tied me up.”
After detailing the robbery, Kardashian told French authorities that she wanted to catch a private plane to reunite with her son, daughter and husband in New York City.
Last week, police arrested many suspects in the Kardashian robbery.
We can’t imagine going through what Kardashian went through.
We sympathize with her. And while we’re often her harshest critics, when it comes to the controversy of this new set of photos, we’re gonna give her the benefit of the doubt.
How about you?