Kim Kardashian Reacts to ‘Get Your A- up and Work’ Backlash

The Kardashians gave fans an inside look at how the family responded to Kim Kardashian’s controversial comments about working women behind the scenes. Back in March, Kim infamously told Variety that women in business should “get your f—king a—es up and work,” and that it “seems like nobody wants to work these days.” The interview was published on March 9, but it was not until March 28 that Kim went on Good Morning America to claim the comments were taken out of context and apologize.

In the Oct. 13 episode of The Kardashians, we saw what happened in the 19 days between the Variety interview and Kim’s GMA stop. The Variety interview instantly went viral, with many finding it ridiculous for someone born into a privileged lifestyle to tell others they were not working hard enough. In a phone conversation with her mother Kris Jenner, Kim said she was “mortified” by the response. “I don’t know what to do, because I, obviously, it’s all my fault, because, you know,” she said.

Jenner told Kim that the backlash was not her fault, notes Yahoo! Entertainment. People “misunderstood” where Kim was coming from, Jenner said. Still, Kim felt responsible and asked her sister Khloe Kardashian if the backlash would ever end.

“No. It won’t end until I don’t even want to say until we end. It will never end, babe. But guess what? We are built for this,” Khloe told her big sister. “I don’t know if I am anymore,” Kim said. Kim later told Khloe and her sister Kendall Jenner the backlash was “exhausting.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Kim gave a statement almost identical to her comment on GMA. “When I made that statement, it wasn’t a blanket statement towards all women. Like, as if I didn’t think women work hard or respect the work they do because I see it every day,” Kim said. “The most important people in my life, that have shaped my life, and shaped my career, and helped me get to where I am today, are all women. So I hated that that got misunderstood and for that, I’m so sorry.”

The controversial comments at the heart of this situation were published in a Variety profile on the Kardashian sisters before their new Hulu show started in April. “I have the best advice for women in business,” Kim told Variety. “Get your f—king a— up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.” Variety also published a video of Kim making these comments during a photo shoot. (The “seems like nobody wants to work…” line was edited out of The Kardashians, which sparked even more frustration from fans on Reddit.)

Eventually, Kim went on GMA, where she told Robin Roberts that she did not intend her comments to be seen as a “blanket statement” describing all women. She also insisted the comments were “taken out of context” and apologized for how they were received. New episodes of The Kardashians are released on Hulu Thursdays.