Kim Kardashian has disclosed that she is dealing with a health condition that carries painful associations with the illness that claimed the life of her father, Robert Kardashian, when he was 59.
A newly released trailer for season eight of The Kardashians shows Kim receiving hospital treatment for esophagitis, a condition involving inflammation or irritation of the lining of the esophagus.
Robert Kardashian, the attorney widely known for serving on OJ Simpson’s defense team during his murder trial, died of esophageal cancer in 2003 at the age of 59.
“I have something called esophagitis,” Kim tells her makeup team in the preview, before footage cuts to her lying wearily in a hospital bed while medical staff attend to her.
One of Kim’s friends then asks whether it is the same condition that caused Robert’s death.
“I can’t, it makes me want to cry,” her mother, Kris Jenner, says in an emotional moment from the trailer.
Kim Kardashian revealed she had been diagnosed with esophagitis, a condition that evokes heartbreaking memories of the illness that killed her father, Robert.
Robert Kardashian died from esophageal cancer in 2003 at age 59.
Kris was married to Robert for 13 years. The former couple, who separated in 1991, shared four children: Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and Robert Jr.
Kim reflected on one of her last conversations with her father before his death in 2003 during a 2023 interview with GQ.
Robert told her: ‘I know you’re going to be okay. It’s almost like I can see ahead. I know you’re going to be okay, but just take care of your siblings for me. Just make sure you take care of them.
Kim said: ‘I took what he said to mean that I was going to be okay in life. But it made me make decisions differently.’
Kardashian’s death came four years before his family would shoot to worldwide fame on show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, with Kim saying he would be proud.
Kourtney Kardashian added: ‘There are parts that are wonderful and amazing and I’m so grateful for and parts that can be hard—like my fight with my sister, where it drags things on in an unrealistic way because of the nature of our show.
‘We have to watch the edit and relive things then and then relive it at the interview. My dad was very much into the closeness of our family, so I think that those moments would make him cringe.’
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Robert Kardashian was a defense attorney who gained worldwide recognition for being a part of the legal defense team of O.J. Simpson in 1995.
Kim was seen in a hospital bed, being tended to by medical staffers
A friend of Kim then asks if it’s the same condition Robert died from
Kim’s mother Kris Jenner became emotional, telling the camera, ‘I can’t, it makes me want to cry’
Robert Kardashian was married to his children’s mother, Kris Jenner (born Kris Houghton) from 1978 until 1991.
In 1998, seven years after the divorce was finalized, he married Jan Ashley; however, the marriage ended in annulment 30 days later.
After dating for three years, the Los Angeles native married his third wife, Ellen Pierson (née Markowitz), six weeks prior to his death.
Robert had not only been one of the lawyers for Simpson during his widely publicized murder trial, he had also been his friend for many years before the court proceedings, which ended with an acquittal for the former football great.
The reality sensation recounted the health issue with her hair and makeup team
Last year, on the 22nd anniversary of his death, Kim paid tribute to her father and thanked him for ‘always protecting the family from heaven.’
‘Can’t believe I was 22 years old when you passed away and it’s been 22 years today since you went to heaven,’ she wrote on her Instagram Stories.
‘I’ve known you just as long as you’ve been gone.
‘I hope you’re so proud of all of us. We love you dad and miss you soooooooooo much (sic)’
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