Kim Kardashian West understands better than most that reality bites. Once bitten herself, Kim has re-invented and re-packaged herself as the star of arguably the best known reality show on television, which is called Keeping Up With The Kardashians but is mostly about keeping up with one Kardashian.
Kimberly Noel Kardashian, now 33, is the daughter of Kris and lawyer Robert Kardashian, who famously defended O J Simpson in his murder trial. The Kardashian siblings include Kim's older sister Kourtney, and younger sister and brother Khloe and Robert. Kris and Robert Kardashian divorced when Kim was 11, and Kris married Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner. The marriage added Kim's half-sisters Kendall and Kylie, and Bruce Jenner's four children from previous marriages to the pool of Kardashian or semi-Kardashian siblings.
At 19, Kim eloped with music producer Damon Thomas. She was then little known apart from some modeling assignments and a high-profile friendship with socialite Paris Hilton. Three years later, Damon Thomas filed for divorce and Kim began dating musician Ray J with whom she made a sex tape that was to earn her infamy and reams of unflattering newsprint some years later. When the sex tape was leaked in 2007, Kim sued the distributors Vivid Entertainment but later dropped the lawsuit and settled out of court for $5 million.
By this time, she was a household name of sorts. Kim was quick to turn this notoriety into a career opportunity when E! came calling with the offer of a reality show starring Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Rob, Kylie, Kendall and their parents Kris and Bruce Jenner. Keeping Up With The Kardashians was a hit, fetching Kim a role in spoof film Disaster Movie, a berth on Dancing With The Stars, and cameos on TV shows How I Met Your Mother and CSI: NY. Over the years, Kim has also launched a range of perfumes, a clothing line and a collection of cosmetics with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe.
In August 2011, Kim married basketball star Kris Humphries in a made-for-TV ceremony, with three episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians dedicated to the wedding. The marriage itself proved to be a brief candle, flickering out in just 72 days. The next year, Kim began a relationship with rapper Kanye West. Their daughter North arrived on June 15, 2013 and Kim and Kanye were married in Italy a year later, on May 24, 2014.
Kim's most recent achievements have been voicing a character on an episode of American Dad! and making the cover of American Vogue.
