Kim Kardashian is swimming in cash right now as she signs more lucrative deals than ever before — the most recent being a mega millions contract with Nike — and it’s got her mom Kris Jenner worried sick that her eldest daughter’s out-growing the family’s reality television empire and may be heading out on her own.
“Kris goes back and forth between begging Kim and trying to scare her,” the source says. “She’s desperate to stop her from bowing out of the show, because she knows it would all fall apart without Kim.”
As In Touch previously reported, momager Kris, 69, has been nearly-single handedly keeping the family’s show, The Kardashians, afloat as she battles for ratings. A second source previously dished that, “The pressure has been building for some time and there have been clear signs the show’s in trouble as ratings decline” and “everyone in the family knows they can’t squeeze this lemon much longer as far as TV paydays go.”
“It’s become tedious for all the girls having cameras trail their lives,” that source said. “Most of them are proactive in growing other aspects of their respective businesses and ways to make money.”
The first source echoes the sentiment, saying most of the Kardashian kids are pretty much through with reality TV, despite using it as a springboard to kickstart their careers. “No one in the family likes filming the show at this point, it’s a huge pain in the butt to have cameras around all the time and to be constantly trying to churn out content.”
Though, to give credit where credit is due, the insider insists most of the girls still need the added eyes the show can bring. “It’s been explained to them all by their business advisors that they need the show and the attention it brings to prop up all their other brands.”
With Kim, Kourtney and Khloé all venturing into other businesses — including clothing, cosmetics, skincare and spin-off reality shows — and half-sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner striking gold out on their own, it makes sense why there would be so much push back against mom Kris’ insistence they continue with the program.
Kim, 44, recently signed a new, huge shapewear partnership with Nike. She gave her 358 million Instagram followers a taste of what’s to come from the collaboration — but that’s where the trouble lies. Without the fame of being “Kim Kardashian” and having that many followers to reach out to, what value does she add to a brand like Nike?
“If they are no longer on TV, the big fear is that they’d lose their clout and with it a ton of followers and ultimately their earning power,” the source explains. “Kris loves to remind Kim of that anytime it sounds like she’s got a foot out the door.” Though, that doesn’t always sit well with hard-headed Kim. “When that’s not working, she resorts to begging her and telling her that without her help, the whole family will lose what they’ve built!”
