Celebrity Privilege: Why the Kardashians’ shouldn’t be tone deaf to COVID concerns

Just like any passionate reality TV fan, I’m more than guilty of binge-watching the oh-so-iconic “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” while simultaneously stalking each and every one of their Instagram pages. But even though I tune into their weekly sibling drama and relationship scandals, it’s quite evident they have made their fair share of mistakes, with the most recent being Kim Kardashian’s not-so-COVID-friendly 40th birthday bash.

Kim flew a massive group of her family and friends down to a private island for her birthday party — and they posted Instagram pics without any sort of mask in sight.

Even if she did require all guests to be quarantined for two weeks prior to leaving for the trip as she claimed, it’s still pretentious to fly a large group to a private island just to party when some people can’t even visit their grandparents a few blocks away. 

“After two weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time,” Kim said in a recent Instagram post. 

Most of the world isn’t granted the privilege to pretend life is back to normal for a few days – especially when millions have lost their loved ones. 

It was also revealed that the trip’s total cost was around $1 million. This money could have gone to different causes during this time instead of towards a private party and trip.

Without the wealth and fame within her family, they wouldn’t be getting away with this excursion. Barely anyone else in the country is able to travel out of the country amid the pandemic, but because of their platform, the Kardashians were able to. They should be using their wealth and fame to promote staying safe and helping others, rather than taking foreign vacations just for a one-time party.

Since the trip, many people have expressed their negative feelings claiming the trip was tone- deaf to the crisis we are all living, however Kim has been vocal about not regretting her decision. 

The entire Kardashian family, and the friends that went with them, have been consistently posting about their time on the island – showing no remorse for their actions. 

The group rode bikes, swam with whales, kayaked and threw a birthday bash for Kim – all things most people couldn’t do in a normal world, especially not during a pandemic. Most people, including myself, aren’t even able to have a normal education let alone go on an elaborate trip outside the country.

The Kardashian family should have considered the pandemic more before jetting off on a million-dollar trip — a camera crew and a couple of good Instagram posts don’t make you immune to the virus.