

On Tuesday evening, Kim Kardashian posted on her social media accounts announcing the end of her family’s long-running and popular television show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians. The show’s final season will air in early 2021, marking 14 continuous years (and according to Kim, 20 seasons) of the Kardashian family being on television. The pop culture-shifting reality show began back in 2007 when the only fame-adjacent member of the family was Kim, who was known primarily as Paris Hilton’s personal assistant until the release of her sex tape with then-boyfriend Ray J—an event that set her, and soon her whole family, on the path towards stardom.
The impact of KUWTK was undeniable—not only did it turn every member of the Kardashian-Jenner family (and some of their various significant others) into internationally recognized celebrities, it also shifted what “celebrity” even entailed. Over its years on air, the show spawned countless memes and pop culture moments, millions of arguments on the internet about cultural appropriation, and a small village of Kardashian/Jenner children. But in recent years, it was impossible not to notice that KUWTK had begun to feel redundant and behind the times. Not to state the obvious, but the way we interact with celebrities (and celebrity gossip), is drastically different now than it was 13 years ago. The prevalence of social media has dramatically changed the access that the average person can potentially have to the lives of the wealthy and famous, and the expectations of fans have shifted accordingly.