Last week Kylie Jenner revealed in a shock-Instagram that not only has she been pregnant for the last nine months, but she has also given birth. Surrounding her social media silence was months and months of speculation and theories… but was her ghosting genuine, or was it all one big publicity stunt?
Prior to the announcement, I really couldn’t care less about the Kardashians/Jenners. Yes, I am potentially interested in buying a Kylie Lip Kit. Yes, North West is the cutest baby to walk this earth. And yes, I follow them on Instagram, but doesn’t everyone? ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ is false and futile, and despite the fact that I laugh at the clips which pop up on my newsfeeds, watching an hour of Kim taking selfies is a waste of my life.
So when everyone started to notice the disappearance of Kylie, I wasn’t really fazed by it. Her 40-minute Snapchat stories had disappeared (thank GOD), and she wasn’t clogging up my newsfeeds with photos of her bum. But eventually, as the months crept by, I began to get curious too. Where has she gone? No selfie in over 12 weeks?? Is she ok?? What is she doing?? And that’s when the theories started. She’s married Travis Scott, she’s a surrogate for Kim, the Kardashians have kicked her out of the family, is she’s dead? But the most popular of course was that she was pregnant. And I still couldn’t understand the fuss – if she’s doing it for privacy, give her privacy, if she’s doing it for attention, then stop giving her attention.
But in the reveal, Kylie claimed that the silence was because she wanted a ‘stress-free’ pregnancy. I mean fair enough, I’m sure that having hundreds and thousands of paparazzi following you 24/7 isn’t exactly ideal, but do they really know the meaning of ‘stress-free’? The whole world was in a frenzy, God forbid when she first checks her Twitter notifications. She wanted it to be a secret, to keep this momentous time in her life to private. But when you have millions of fans studying your every move, is getting your entire family to pose for a Calvin Klein advert in their underwear but with you mysteriously covered subtle? Is posting the family Christmas card photo on Instagram with everyone except you a good idea? Made even less subtle by the fact that they were all staring off camera at someone and smiling…
And, of course, the reveal itself. She didn’t just post it on a Monday morning and get on with her day. No, no. Momager Kris Jenner has been sat in her mansion meticulously planning this for months and months. Imagine her joy when she realised that the birth of her granddaughter would be at the same time as the Superbowl!! No one in America was focused on the game that night, everyone was too busy retweeting that video.
So was she being honest? Maybe. It is of course completely possible that she did just want a break from her enormous fame – having a baby at any time must be difficult, but even more so when you’re only 20 and have a millionaire sister. Maybe her and Scott wanted to start Stormi’s life in a more conventional way. Or, more plausibly, it was one big publicity stunt planned by her mum, announced at just the right time to get the maximum amount of attention. Hats off to her to be fair, an excellent businesswoman. And either way, imagine being her friends and staff… imagine keeping THAT quiet.