At a glittering gala in Venice, Italy, Kim Kardashian used her moment in the spotlight to criticize the very administration she once worked alongside.
While being honored at Diane von Furstenberg’s DVF Awards for her advocacy in prison reform, Kardashian turned her remarks toward immigration — and specifically, toward President Donald Trump’s policies.
“In the news you hear, ‘Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country,’” Kardashian said. “But then you hear about all of the people who have worked so hard to build our country, and so many people that are such a part of our country getting affected. People I know. People my friends know.”
She continued: “You want to believe that there’s a powerful message in protection, but then you see that it’s not really happening like that. It’s really tough, but I think that we have to do what we can to protect the people that have really supported and built our country.”
The comments were striking, not least because Kardashian was one of the few high-profile celebrities who broke ranks in 2018 and 2019 by engaging with the Trump administration on criminal justice reform.
Her partnership with the White House helped bring national attention to the First Step Act, a bipartisan bill that reduced mandatory minimum sentences and offered early release opportunities to nonviolent offenders.
Kardashian even visited the Oval Office, where she successfully lobbied for the commutation of Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother serving life for a first-time drug offense.
Her willingness to collaborate with Trump earned her both praise and criticism — praise from advocates who saw her as an unlikely but effective ally, and scorn from Hollywood figures who accused her of “legitimizing” a president they opposed.
Now, by contrasting her prison reform work with her disapproval of Trump’s immigration agenda, Kardashian seems to be drawing a line: willing to applaud progress where it occurs, but just as willing to condemn policies she sees as harmful.
