Kim Kardashian visited Harvard Business School as a guest lecturer on Friday to talk about SKIMS, her multi-billion dollar clothing design company, NBC10 Boston reports. The reality TV star was accompanied by a camera crew and spent an hour and 45 minutes on campus.
“I think a lot of people don’t respect her as someone who co-leads a multibillion-dollar company,” a student named Liz, who attended the seminar, told the news outlet.
“Just learning from someone who has built such a successful business was really exciting, and I think having the privacy of not having cameras in the room, being able to have that honest conversation was also special,” Liz continued.
Kardashian, who launched Boston-based Skyy Partners last year and has become a staunch advocate for prison reform, chronicled her journey in true Kardashian fashion — posting an Instagram video of her 6 a.m. workout before visiting Boston Common.
After sharing a photo of the newly unveiled memorial to Martin Luther King Jr., “The Embrace,” Kardashian headed to Harvard. She posted a video of the snow-covered campus before her classes began under the title “Moving Beyond: Direct to Consumer,” The Boston Globe reports.
“The exciting part is sitting down with these founders and figuring out what their dream is,” Kardashian told The Wall Street Journal of Skyy in September. “I want to support what it is, not change who they are in their DNA, but just support and bring them to another level.”
However, not everyone was as thrilled as Kardashian. While Faculty Support Specialist Maddie Yardley he gleefully captioned the video of Kardashian’s arrival on Twittersome felt the reality TV star didn’t belong at Harvard — and expressed those feelings on social media.
“Kim Kardashian was born into wealth,” one person tweeted.
“Tried to use a sex tape to launch an acting or singing career; nor launched,” they continued. “Kim K was rich enough to do a scripted reality TV show because she and her family are shameless. Harvard is as tacky as the Kardashians now.”
But Kardashian has something to offer Harvard students, as Forbes valued SKIMS at $3.2 billion last year. Her influence has since led to meetings with former President Donald Trump and pardons for over-sentenced people like Alice Johnson.
Ultimately, keeping up with the Kardashians is a persistent pursuit that has now taken followers to Harvard.