The Kardashian Decade: How a Sex Tape Led to a Billion-Dollar Brand.
This is the pretty fantastic and unfortunately accurate title of a cover story by The Hollywood Reporter from August of 2017.
Indeed, Kim and company burst on to the celebrity gossip scene in 2007… and have been dominating nearly every conversation ever since.
How did they get here? What is the basis for the success? What sort of surprising facts and tidbits did this lengthy feature piece reveal?
Scroll down for some answers!
1. Before She Was a Star…
Kim tells the publication “I was going to [Pierce College], and after school I would go work the cash register at our store, Dash.” This all changed when she was 27 years old.
2. Before There Was Ever Keeping Up with the Kardashians…
“We had talked to producers about doing a show about the three of us running the store, Dash, where Khloe and I would do the day-to-day, and Kim would come in as a stylist,” Kourtney says. “It didn’t go anywhere.”
3. The Key to the Show’s Success
“I sat everyone down and said, ‘If we’re going to do this, we have to be all in. We have to really be who we are.,"” says Kris.
4. Before Settling on a Title…
… E! tossed around ideas such as: The Kardashians: Krazy With a K; Living Kardashian; and Krazy Kardashians.
5. The First Viral Moment:
“The watercooler chatter from the first episode was all about [9-year-old] Kylie jumping on a stripper pole,” Kris now says. “Kim had one installed in my bedroom and our friend Robin Anton, who is the founder of The Pussycat Dolls, was just messing around, and Kylie hops up there, twirls around a couple times, and it became this thing.”
6. When Did Kendall Realize She was a Star?
“Kylie and I did a magazine signing for Seventeen, and it was at some store at The Grove and we had a crazy line around the corner. The store owner came up to us and said, “Justin Bieber was here a week ago and didn’t get this response.”