Kim Kardashian Clarifies Working Women Comment, Talks Co-Parenting With Kanye West

Kim Kardashian says she would like to clarify the viral comment she made regarding her advice for working women.

When speaking to ABC News’ Robin Roberts for a sit-down ahead of the family’s reality return, Kim responded to the backlash she received when, during a recent Variety interview, she said, “I have the best advice for women in business, get your fucking ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.”

Now, she tells Roberts, “Having a social media presence and being on a reality show does not mean overnight success. And you have to really work hard to get there, even if it might seem like it’s easy.”

Added Kim: “So I felt like, in no way was that statement directed toward women, and at women. If anything, I feel so bad and I’m sorry that it was received that way. The women in my life have shaped my life, have made my career, have made me successful. And so I’m always so supportive of women. And it wasn’t a blanket statement toward women or to feel like I don’t respect the work, or think that they don’t work hard. I know that they do.”

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Roberts sat down with Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner for a primetime ABC News special that explores the family’s rise to fame ahead of the April 14 premiere of The Kardashians, their upgraded Hulu series that will bring them back to the reality TV genre. After 20 seasons of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the family parted ways with E! in 2020 and quickly followed that up with a multiyear pact to make Hulu their new reality home.

“I knew what I was getting myself into,” Kim told Roberts of her meteoric celebrity rise and deciding to put her life back on camera. “Do I cherish my privacy and do I choose to live my life differently than I did at the beginning of my career? Absolutely. But I love my life, so I don’t look at fame as this negative thing.”

The 40-episode, two-season series will be presented in more of a documentary style than their E! iteration and will continue to showcase the women and their headline-making, real-life drama. That will include a behind-the-scenes look at Kim’s public divorce from Kanye West and high-profile new relationship with Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson.

“You want to take the high road, and sometimes it’s hard,” Kim admitted to Roberts when discussing how her and West’s (who now goes by Ye) divorce has played out in both the courts and the press, with West often taking to social media to slam his ex-wife (“I’m working on my communication,” he said before being temporarily banned from Instagram). “But I think that, at the end of the day, everyone has their own way of communicating, and I’ve always been a champion of him speaking his truth and I would always want that.”

Kim also opened up about her approach to co-parenting with West, saying, “I’m really open and honest with [the kids]. The younger ones don’t understand as much. But as far as with my two older ones, they know what’s going on. And you have to just really be there for them no matter what. Even in this crazy life that we live. You just have to have a really open dialogue with your children.”

She added: “[Kanye and I] have to talk daily for the kids. So I hate that it had to play out like that, but when it comes to family, Kanye and I will always be family. At the end of the day, I just want my kids to be happy and healthy and think the world of their dad, and they do.”

Elsewhere during the sit-down, Khloe, Kourtney and Kris opened up about the high-profile relationships in their lives: Khloe with the father to her daughter, Chicago Bulls forward Tristan Thompson (“I still think he’s a great guy, and he’s a great dad. He’s just not the guy for me”); Kourtney with fiancé Travis Barker, whom she just “practice” married in Las Vegas (“I felt like, deep down, if we looked into each other’s eyes and made it physical that it would just be over”), and Kris about being on better terms with ex Caitlyn Jenner (“It’s settled down a lot”).