Kim Kardashian reveals poignant last message from her father Robert before his death from cancer and whether he would approve of family’s reality career
Kim Kardashian has emotionally reflected on one of the final conversations she had with her father Robert Kardashian before his death from cancer aged 59 in 2003.
The reality star, 43, who opened up about her parents’ divorce in the interview with GQ, said her father urged her to take care of her siblings before he passed away from esophageal cancer – two months after being diagnosed.
Kim’s parents Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian were married for 13-years, sharing kids Kim, Kourtney, 44, Khloe, 39, and Robert Jr, 36, before parting ways in 1991.
Robert told her: ‘I know you’re going to be okay. It’s almost like I can see ahead. I know you’re going to be okay, but just take care of your siblings for me. Just make sure you take care of them.
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Kim said: ‘I took what he said to mean that I was going to be okay in life. But it made me make decisions differently.’
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Emotional: Kim Kardashian has emotionally reflected on one of the final conversations she had with her father Robert Kardashian before his death from cancer aged 59 in 2003
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Tragic loss: The reality star, 43, who opened up about her parents’ divorce in the interview with GQ , said her father urged her to take care of her siblings before he passed away from esophageal cancer – two months after being diagnosed
Kardashian’s death came four years before his family would shoot to worldwide fame on show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, with Kim saying he would be proud.
Kourtney Kardashian added: ‘There are parts that are wonderful and amazing and I’m so grateful for and parts that can be hard—like my fight with my sister, where it drags things on in an unrealistic way because of the nature of our show.
‘We have to watch the edit and relive things then and then relive it at the interview. My dad was very much into the closeness of our family, so I think that those moments would make him cringe.’
Robert Kardashian was a defense attorney who gained worldwide recognition for being a part of the legal defense team of O.J. Simpson in 1995.
Robert Kardashian was married to his children’s mother, Kris Jenner (born Kris Houghton) from 1978 until 1991.
In 1998, seven years after the divorce was finalized, he married Jan Ashley; however, the marriage ended in annulment 30 days later.
After dating for three years, the Los Angeles native married his third wife, Ellen Pierson (née Markowitz), six weeks prior to his death.
Robert had not only been one of the lawyers for Simpson during his widely publicized murder trial, he had also been his friend for many years before the court proceedings, which ended with an acquittal for the former football great.
Kim Kardashian shares sweet memories of her late father Robert
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Family: Robert told her: ‘I know you’re going to be okay. It’s almost like I can see ahead. I know you’re going to be okay, but just take care of your siblings for me. Just make sure you take care of them’ (pictured with sister Kourtney)
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Family: Robert Kardashian, a defense attorney who gained worldwide recognition for being apart of the legal defense team of O.J. Simpson in 1995, died from esophageal cancer at age 59 on September 30, 2003 – he is pictured with Kris and their four children
Elsewhere in the chat Kim revealed how her parents’ divorce helped her navigate her own split from ex-husband Kanye West.
The reality star who ended her marriage to the rapper, 46, in 2021, with whom she shares four children, admitted it was ok to be ‘vulnerable’ without needing to say anything negative about her former partner.
She recalled how her parents made her and her siblings feel ‘loved and heard’ during the painful split, something she endeavoured to do with her own children.
She told the publication: ‘I did think about how my parents handled it with us’.
‘I just remember them being open…Ultimately, what matters is that kids feel loved and heard. You want to be sensitive because they’re just kids, and it’s hard to go through no matter what age’.
Adding: ‘You have to make sure that you only go to a level that they can understand. It’s okay to show a vulnerable side. You never go to a negative side.’
Kim Kardashian evokes glamorous gothic chic at Baby2Baby Gala
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Interview: The star opened up in the GQ 2023 Men of the Year issue
Earlier this year Kim broke down in tears in an episode of The Kardashian’s saying about her former husband: ‘I never say anything bad, I never say anything negative, If I say I’m exhausted, I feel guilty about that. I am f***ing exhausted!’.
Kanye and Kim began dating in 2012. The pair tied the knot in 2014 and share four children together: daughters North, 10, and Chicago, five, and sons Psalm, four and Saint, seven.
