Kim Kardashian might be the queen of Instagram, a reality TV star, entrepreneur, wife, mother and even a future lawyer. But somehow she also finds time to right some wrongs.
“Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project” is a new two-hour documentary debuting Sunday night (7 p.m., Oxygen) that chronicles her work alongside legal experts to secure freedom for individuals whom she believes have been unfairly sentenced.
She first became interested in this type of work when she helped to convince President Trump to grant Alice Marie Johnson clemency last June. Johnson, a 64-year-old great-grandmother, had been serving lifetime prison sentence for a nonviolent drug offense.
Kardashian, who has completed her first year of law studies, recently answered questions about the film and her interest in advocacy during and after a press conference to promote the show:
Q: How do you decide which people to help?
A: Every case I choose is really personal to me. A lot of the time it’s from a letter that I receive from someone on the inside that just really touches my heart and something that I know that moves me. Sometimes there’s so many cases that I do want to help, but I just know that it will be a huge challenge. And so, those might take a little longer, and I’ll send those off to a group of attorneys I think can make a difference. But the ones on this particular documentary showcase different aspects of our broken system.
Q: How would you respond to critics who might say you’re just doing this for publicity and/or to make yourself look better?
A: I’m very used to criticism, so nothing really fazes me. I’m one of those not-human souls that can deal with it. I just stay focused on cases and people and am extremely compassionate. I’m not doing it for publicity. I really do care. I spend 20 hours a week away from my family and my kids and work and everything else.
I just completed my first year of law school. Aced a test recently. … I do this because, once you get so deep into the system, you realize that you just can’t give up. It can be exhausting, frustrating, but I know that we can make a difference.
Q: You mentioned your 20-hours-a-week commitment. You’re doing your law studies, and your other projects. How do you prioritize everything?
A: I literally had to change my (phone) number. I’ve told all my friends that I’ve got to focus for four years and then I’ll be back. But right now just let me really focus. And my interests have changed. Everything has just really shifted. And it’s been a fun journey. …
(Husband Kanye West) and I definitely have our date nights and our vacation time. I know when I really need that time — and simple self-care things, like massages. Obviously, my kids and my husband are my life. I’ve just honestly had to cut out all the extra stuff I was doing and time with friends. And they understand. I don’t go to all these extra events anymore, like movies and things.
Q: As you’re studying and doing this type of work, do you ever find yourself feeling closer to your father (late attorney Robert Kardashian)?
A: In a way, yes. There are times when I feel frustrated, studying really late and having to get up, and wondering how he did it — having four kids. He must have been going through some of the same things I’ve been going through. So it would have been exciting to talk to him about that. And I know he would be so, so proud.
Q: Did it take you a number of years to realize that this is what you have in your heart — that this is what you want to do?
A: I think, subconsciously, having lived with my attorney father, who made me sign a contract for everything — including, when I got my car, agreeing to have gas and wash it once a week. So I think that by the time I was a teenager and he was working on the O.J. (Simpson) case and I was sneaking in his office looking at all of the evidence and things I shouldn’t have been looking at, to just the day that I happened to be on Twitter and see a video pop up of Alice Johnson.
Maybe it was in my soul for years. (Even in) interviews I did from six, seven years ago, people would ask what I wanted to do if I wasn’t filming my show. And I always said I wanted to be a crime-scene investigator or an attorney. I’ve always said stuff like that because I’ve been really interested in the law. But it didn’t take me years to think about wanting to help someone when I saw Alice Johnson’s face. When that popped up, it took me two seconds to send a message to my attorney to see what I can do to help.
… I’m raising four black children who could face a situation like any of the people I help. And so, just to know that I could make a difference in my children’s lives and their friends’ lives and their children’s lives by helping to fix such a broken system, that is just so motivating for me.
Q: You have a lot of young fans. Do you want younger people to watch this?
A: I absolutely do. I talk to my kids about it. … Even my younger sisters. I think everyone is really interested in justice reform right now. I’m so proud of the younger generation for really being so knowledgeable and caring so much. … I, personally, feel like I had my own awakening after I had kids and I was a little bit older. I hope that, through my stories, the younger generation can be aware at a younger age.
