Watch: Kim Kardashian’s Entire SI Swimsuit Interview After Her Iconic Photoshoot
SI Style Staff Writer
Kim Kardashian is one of this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover models, and she sat down with the magazine for an in-depth interview about many aspects of her life.
The 41-year-old television star was still in shock that she had her swimsuit photo shoot in the Dominican Republic just before the interview.
“Every time I would see magazines like this, especially in the 90s when I was growing up, it’s always these perfect, tall, thin women, and I just have never been that,” Kardashian said. “I vividly remember Tyra Banks on the cover, and women with curves. I remember just thinking ‘that was so cool,’ but I still didn’t think I would ever. I thought you had to be a professional model and a runway model. And, it’s always like really young girls. I don’t want to like date myself or sound old, but in my 40s? That’s crazy. I never thought in a million years that I would be shooting one myself.”
Kardashian dove into various topics, including her family, social media and motherhood. While discussing family, she mentioned how she is close with her siblings and mother, and how they are there to help her whenever she needs them.
She also talked about her late father, Robert Kardashian. The lawyer, most known for being one of O.J. Simpson’s defense attorneys, died in 2003. Even though he isn’t able to see his daughter Kim go through the process of becoming a lawyer now, Kardashian knows that he would be proud of her.
Her late father gave her advice that has stuck with her to this day: No matter what Kardashian is working on, whether that’s starring in a reality show or running a clothing line, she always tries to do her best.
“He said to me, ‘If you’re going to do it, you have to do the best job at it, even if it’s not like your dream job, you just have to do your best,’” Kardashian said. “So, that always kind of stuck with me. If I’m going to work somewhere, have fun and be my best at it and do it, don’t like b-------.”
Kardashian implemented this mentality when working on Alice Johnson’s case, the woman who inspired her to become a lawyer. Kardashian helped bring Johnson’s story to public light, in which the now 66-year-old woman was sentenced to life imprisonment after being involved in a cocaine-trafficking organization in the 90s. With Kardashian’s help, former president Donald Trump pardoned Johnson in 2018.
“I also think just in life with like age and life experiences, life stops being so much about you,” Kardashian said. “You get to a place where, if you can, you just want to help other people. It’s so satisfying that I’m able to do that. And also gratifying that, even though it’s really time-consuming and I get sad being away from the kids some late nights studying, I know it’s for the better of other people, and that makes me keep going.”