Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has recalled being called a whale by the press when she was pregnant with her first child North, leaving her feeling ‘brutalised’.
Kardashian, 40, told hosts Kristen Bell and Monica Padman on their podcast ‘We Are Supported By’ that she was even compared to Kate Middleton. The Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with Prince George at around the same Kardashian was expecting North in 2013.
“It was really, really crazy,” Kardashian said in the August 11 episode. “They would always compare me to Kate Middleton so it would say, ‘Kate the waif and Kim the whale, the waif versus the whale’.”
“It was so nasty. I don’t think that would really fly today, but it killed my self-esteem. I really can’t believe that this was acceptable and that this was okay. But I would sit at home and cry all the time,” the beauty mogul said.
Kardashian has four children with ex-husband Kanye West — daughter North, son Saint, daughter Chicago and son Psalm. She gave birth to the first two herself, but because of medical complications during her pregnancies doctors advised her not to have any more children. Her last two kids were born through surrogacy.
In the podcast, Kardashian also opened up about the difficulties she faced while pregnant, and how she hated the way she looked.
“I hated it. I hated how I felt. I hate how I looked. I was so used to seeing my mom pregnant, my sister pregnant and everyone looking so cute and having these easy deliveries and it was great and they snapped right back. That wasn’t me,” she said.
“I had this condition called preeclampsia and I didn’t know that I had it. It’s over-swelling in your feet and face,” she added. “I had to deliver six weeks early with an emergency delivery and then I had another condition called Placenta accreta with both of my babies. It was insane.”
The entrepreneur said that the public scrutiny over her body made her more careful about what she shared on social media.
“It really did change me and it made me pull back on what I shared and just how much I wanted to give because I saw how nasty everyone was and it felt so bad,” she said.
