As the decade comes to a close, citizens across the DMV are tossing out their 2019 planners, setting goals for 2020, and considering perhaps the most pressing question of the year, the one we know you’re yearning to have answered: How much Kardashian exposure did DC get this year?
Sadly, 2019 didn’t rate as high on the Kardashian Index as it has in the past. 2018 was much more successful for the District when it came to one-on-one time with America’s first family: That was the year we learned that Tristan Thompson apparently cheated on Khloe Kardashian in an Arlington hookah lounge, Kourtney Kardashian came to town to advocate for updated regulations in the cosmetic industry (and wore a crop-top on the Hill #neverforget), and Kanye…well, Kanye came and did Kanye (with a little help via a mysterious visitor from the future).
But, fear not! That’s not to say 2019 in DC was a barren wasteland devoid of any Kardashian face time. In fact, we did pretty well, all things considered (hey, we could be, say, Des Moines, where I’m pretty sure a member of the Kardashian Krew has never stepped foot—the horror!).
So, behold: DC’s 2019 as defined by visits from Kardashians InKorporated.
March
While Travis Scott isn’t technically a member of the Kardashian fam, he is raising his daughter Stormi with his on-again, off-again girlfriend Kylie Jenner. Scott came to Capital One Arena in March as part of his Astroworld tour, and while there isn’t any documented evidence of Jenner hanging out in DC while he performed, who’s to say she wasn’t back at the hotel, applying a fresh coat from her lip kit while looking up double-decker monument tours on Groupon?
June
.@KimKardashian, a powerful advocate for criminal justice reform, joined us at the White House today! pic.twitter.com/eXlIw1otDr
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 14, 2019
Kim Kardashian West came to the White House in June to announce a new ride-sharing program that would help formerly incarcerated people travel to job interviews. After working with President Trump last year to commute the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, Kardashian West has become increasingly involved in criminal justice reform. She’s also studying to take the bar exam, so fingers crossed we see her on the Supreme Court in 30 years.
July
Thank you @KimKardashian for visiting the Correctional Treatment Facility to discuss the Georgetown Prison Scholars program as well as criminal justice reform. We certainly appreciate you sharing and engaging with us! pic.twitter.com/mTkD8kUv6L
— DC DOC (@DCCorrections) July 24, 2019
Kim K was back in the District again in July to visit inmates at the Correctional Treatment Facility in Southeast, supposedly as part of the Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project documentary she’s filming for Oxygen. (And, yes, she did take selfies with the inmates.) While in town, she also threw on a gold bodysuit in the middle of a DC summer (as one does) for a tour of the White House with her grandmother MJ and her oldest daughter North.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump , @SecPompeo, Jared Kushner & everyone involved with the efforts to Free ASAP Rocky & his two friends. Your commitment to justice reform is so appreciated ???? https://t.co/Ym1Rzo5Z6c
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 18, 2019
Oh, and don’t forget this is also the same month that Kimye joined forces to implore President Trump to help free the rapper A$AP Rocky from a Swedish prison. Good times.
October
Performing his timeless classic “Jesus Walks” from his album, The College Dropout, @kanyewest closes out “Sunday Service” for #HowardHomecoming . @PUSHA_T #HUHC19 pic.twitter.com/NqwEJU82mb
— Howard University (@HowardU) October 12, 2019
At Howard’s annual homecoming in October, West showed up with little prior notice to host one of his Sunday Services on the school’s central yard. Kim K. was there, too, as well as two of the couple’s four children, North and Saint, who were serving their Robert Redford best in their shearling and suede ensembles.
DC Howard University ready #SundayService pic.twitter.com/xuEZBZpca1
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) October 12, 2019
While the response to West’s performance was mixed, to say the least (thanks to things like his support of President Trump and his claim that slavery was “a choice”), he continued to perform throughout the District, hosting another show later in the day at George Washington.
Doing the lord’s work this morning on the red eye in from LAX. RuhISE & SHIyNE babes. pic.twitter.com/lb5s6rROLW
— ig:cameron_blackmon (@macbackwardz) October 19, 2019
Also in October: a flight attendant on an American Airlines trip from Los Angeles to Washington paid homage to Kylie by singing her now-famous “rise and shine” refrain to passengers as they touched down in Dulles. So…that kind of counts as a Kylie spotting in DC, right?
And since 2019 isn’t technically over until 11:59 PM on December 31, here’s to hoping we can squeeze in one more Kardashian-in-DC experience before the end of the year. (Khloe, feel free to drop off True at my place in AdMo if you have plans that night. DM me!!!!)
Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. She’s written for The Washington Post, Garden & Gun, Outside Magazine, Washington City Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Originally from North Carolina, she now lives in Del Ray.
