Culture

Kim Kardashian ‘knew about Caitlyn’s transition for 13 years’

Sep 19 2015
Written by Joe Williams

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

The reality TV star claims she and her father were the first to find out about Jenner’s struggle.

Kim Kardashian West has written that she and her late father – Robert Kardashian – were the first members of the Kardashian clan to find out about Caitlyn Jenner’s transgender identity.

She revealed all in a personal essay, as she recalled her first experience with Jenner’s identity when she was 21-years-old.

“My mom was out of town with my little sisters, visiting my grandmother in San Diego, and I was living with her and Bruce at the time in Calabasas.

“I came home from a friend’s house and walked into the garage and Bruce was there, dressed up as a woman,” she writes.

“Heels, wig, makeup and all! I don’t remember specifically what he had on because I put my head down and ran into my bedroom.”

Kardashian admits that for years afterwards, she and her sisters were left wondering what was really happening.

“For over a decade, we assumed he was a cross-dresser, not transgender,” she admits.

Kim Kardashian ‘knew about Caitlyn’s transition for 13 years’

However, the reality star says that this was not the first Kardashian to find out the truth about her step-parent.

Ten years earlier, Kim overheard her father Robert Kardashian discussing “rumours” about his ex-wife Kris Jenner’s new spouse, according to Entertainment Tonight.

“Had I not overheard my dad and his friends discussing rumours that Bruce would dress up as a woman years before,” Kardashian writes, “I never would have believed what I was seeing.”

“I thought my dad was jealous of my mom’s new husband, that he was joking with his friends on the phone, but suddenly I knew it was all true.”

Kim Kardashian ‘knew about Caitlyn’s transition for 13 years’