Kim Kardashian Says Her Viral "Get Your F*cking Ass Up And Work" Quote Was Taken Out Of Context
The comment has garnered plenty of criticism, as well as become a TikTok sound and the subject of many, many memes.
Kim Kardashian's "Get your fucking ass up and work" comment has gone viral in a not-so-great way—but the reality star said she didn't mean for it to come off the way it did.
The remark, which she made during a filmed interview with Variety, speaking about her advice to women in business, has gotten her criticism from past employees who've called her a hypocrite and fans who've called her insensitive to the troubles non-famous people around the world face in the workforce. (You know the quote: "Get your fucking ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days. You have to surround yourself with people that want to work.")
It has also become a TikTok sound and the subject of many, many memes. Her comment even made its way into last night's Oscars, when cohost Regina Hall told Best Supporting Actress nominee Dame Judi Dench, "This is a quote from Kim Kardashian: 'Work harder.' That's what we need you to do."
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Still, Kardashian insisted in an interview on Good Morning America that her words were totally taken out of context.
"It wasn't a blanket statement towards women or to feel like I don't respect the work or think that they don't work hard. I know that they do," she told GMA coanchor Robin Roberts. "It was taken out of context, but I'm really sorry if it was received that way."
Though most fans have taken Kardashian's statement with a grain of salt and used it for their TikTok benefit, others have called out the SKIMS founder for not recognizing her privilege.
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But speaking with Roberts, Kardashian explained that she was frustrated with a question that the interviewer had asked before the work advice question and, therefore, ended up answering more forcefully than she meant to.
"That statement that I said was without questions and conversation around it, and it became a soundbite really with no context," Kardashian said. "That soundbite, I came off of the notion and the question right before, which was, 'After 20 years of being in the business, you're famous for being famous,' and my whole tone and attitude changed with the previous question that went into that question about, 'What advice would you give to women?'"
Nobody really doubts that Kardashian works hard. The mom of four runs her own clothing brand, was the star of her family's E! show for 20 seasons, and is now the star of their upcoming Hulu show, The Kardashians. She is also the founder of KKW Beauty, the face of Balenciaga (which she wore to the Vanity Fairy Oscar party last night), and the It girl of Calabasas. She has previously opened up about her fast-paced schedule and her intense workout routine and diet—but, as fans have pointed out, she is also a billionaire who was born into an already-notorious and well-off family. Other people, despite how much they work or how hard they try, would have a much harder time reaching that level of wealth and success.
After her apology, Kardashian told Roberts that she does, actually, work for what she has.
"Having a social media presence and being on a reality show does not mean overnight success, and you have to really work hard to get there, even if it might seem like it's easy and that you can build a really successful business off of social media," she said. "And you can, if you put in a lot of hard work."
This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.
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