Kim Kardashian has made a tough decision.
The Keeping Up with the Kardashians A-lister has parted ways with friend and longtime assistant Stephanie Shepherd – and it was her call.
The 37-year-old Kim decided it was time to cut ties – professionally – with Shepherd, her friend and assistant since 2013, a source confirms.
“Kim made a decision to let Stephanie go,” the insider says, revealing that the parting of ways came after a failed promotion of sorts.
“She was a good assistant but when Stephanie wanted to transition into a larger role with Kim’s brand and businesses, it just didn’t work.”
“Kim gave her a chance but after a short period of time it became clear that Stephanie just didn’t have the knowledge to take on a role like that.”
“Kim made the executive decision to part ways.”
The source adds that while Shepherd is “still friendly with the other sisters,” the firing clearly stung, as currently “Kim aren’t really speaking.”
Shepherd began her position right before North West was born in June 2013. She opened up about the role in an interview earlier this year:
“I was doing her whole schedule, doing her laundry, booking travel, putting the stroller together and all of these things. But I wasn’t nervous.”
“I was just excited, always staying longer than I needed because I was trying to prove myself … and then North came early!”
Obviously, this presented a huge challenge for her, as “I was a brand new assistant who had no idea what to do with a baby.”
“But all moved into Kris’ house, and she was the one who made it all feel okay and moved mountains for us,” Shepherd said.
It all went well for so long … until recently.
If you watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians online, you may recall Kim questioning Shepherd’s relationship with her sister Kourtney.
“Do you find it weird that you’re like ‘wifey’ with my assistant?” Kim said, at which point her older sibling inquired if that bothered her.
“Kind of,” Kim responded, countering, “What if all of a sudden I became BFF with Megan? I think you would definitely be like, ‘That’s weird.’”
Kourtney then told Kim that “we were talking” recently “and she was saying that she didn’t know what she wanted to do in life.”
Steph was grateful for her role as an assistant but “feels, like, maybe she’s in a place in life where she’s unfulfilled, job-wise.”
“I feel like she’s just looking to, like, evolve.”
Kim knew this was true, but it still hurt, as she felt she’d given Stephanie the chance to do new things such as manage the Kimoji app.
Also, “I do think it’s like inappropriate for her to talk to you and not to me,” Kim said. “I mean don’t you think that’s like a little bit unprofessional?”
Stephanie’s take on that friendship?
“Kourtney and I weren’t really close at all when I first started working, I don’t think she really liked me at first to be honest!” she said.
“When we were doing that world tour of Miami and Iceland and all those places, with so much travel time, we bonded.”
“Now we talk all the time and we’ll go to dinner.”
“I’ll spend the night at her house,” she added.
“People always think we’re either lesbians, because we’re always together or holding hands, or even that I am Kourtney.”
“I guess we look alike and have a similar style.”
No word on whether personal jealousy or awkwardness played a role in her getting fired, and we aren’t likely to find out.
We’re guessing there’s an NDA involved.