Kim Kardashian might have recently given praise in GQ for her late father, Robert Kardashian, but Caitlyn Jenner recalls a time that she had to check the attorney and businessman.
In three-part Peacock docuseries House of Kardashian, Jenner, 74, called Robert for a sit-down ahead of his divorce from Kris in 1991. But as Jenner tells it, Robert wasn’t ready to sign papers. “[Kris] was having a rough time with Robert in the divorce when I came into the picture,” Jenner said on the series.
She continued, “He was doing everything to kind of make her life miserable. I saw what was going on from the outside and just said, ‘This is ridiculous.’ So, I called Robert up and said, ‘Hey, let’s go to dinner.'”
The Olympic gold medal recipient urged Kardashian to let Kris go years before the former couple would have their daughters, Kendall, 28, and Kylie, 26. During their meeting, Jenner made it clear that she’d be taking over as stepparent to Kourtney, Kim, Khloé and Rob.
“I basically said to him, ‘Kris is moving on. Sorry, but she’s moving on,'” Jenner continued. “I said, ‘I can take over from here. So, let’s just make this final signing of the papers as simple as possible.’ And he did.”
Although Jenner and Kris divorced in 2015, around the time that Jenner came out as a trans woman, the New York native assured Kardashian that she’d remain present for the children shortly before his death from esophageal cancer in 2003.
“He was really hurting,” Jenner remembered, “and I said to him, ‘Hey, remember if I was in your position, my only worry would be for my kids. That the kids are gonna get through this. I just want you to know that I will always be there for the kids.’”
House of Kardashian, which premiered last month, chronicles the Kardashian family’s rise to notoriety, wealth and global impact, with nods to their former E! reality series and each member’s individual entrepreneurship.
