Remember back in February when Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner were accosted by a guy in blackface at the Vienna Ball? Not cool, right? Well, they caught the entire incident on camera, and it’s not pretty.
The latest episode of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians,” airing on June 29, shows exactly how the reality stars reacted when “comedian” Chris Stephan, showed up in blackface makeup, mimicking Kardashian’s then-fiancé, now-husband Kanye West.
Kardashian didn’t comment on the incident at the time, but she told the camera, “I can’t believe there’s this guy in full blackface. I just am so confused. I don’t get why him or anyone else would find this funny.”
She added, “Is this just like a sick joke?”
Kardashian and her mother tried not to make a scene while making it clear that they wanted Stephan removed from the event. After giving a brief lesson in the history of blackface, Jenner told the camera, “To have someone so ignorant come to such a beautiful event and spoil it for everyone, is just taking a huge step backwards.”
The reality stars were so upset by the incident that they left the event (which Kardashian was reportedly paid $500,000 to attend) early.
This is the first time Kardashian has commented specifically on what went down at the Vienna Ball, but she did pen a blog post this past May addressing the issue of racism as a whole.
“To be honest, before I had North, I never really gave racism or discrimination a lot of thought. It is obviously a topic that Kanye is passionate about, but I guess it was easier for me to believe that it was someone else’s battle,” she wrote on May 7. “But recently, I’ve read and personally experienced some incidents that have sickened me and made me take notice. I realize that racism and discrimination are still alive, and just as hateful and deadly as they ever have been.”
As for Stephan, he offered a pseudo apology after news of his so-called “joke” broke back in February.
“I was nice and gentle, Richard Lugner called me and said ‘Kim wants to see her man, Chris do something.’ I just got dressed up and got into the Opera for free because of it thanks Richi,” he wrote in one Facebook post. Later adding: “I’m very sorry that the whole thing went to shit and was completely misunderstood. I’m an Arab myself, born in Austria. I didn’t want to be racist in any way by doing this, and I apologize again to anyone who felt offended.”