Kim Kardashian had to get on TV before the press would cover her fame-seeking

Evidence

In 2006, Hilton hired her longtime friend Kourtney Kardashian’s younger sister Kim to organize her closet. Kourtney and Kim were the daughters of Robert Kardashian, a lesser-known lawyer on O. J. Simpson’s triumphant legal team, and Kris Jenner, who remarried with Olympian Caitlyn Jenner (prior to her transition). Like Hilton, Kim Kardashian also had big dreams of being famous. While trying to make money running her closet-organizing business, Kim Kardashian often met with an editor at In Touch Weekly to pitch gossip stories about herself. The problem, the editor kept having to reiterate, was that readers had no interest in reading about complete unknowns like Kim Kardashian. She at least needed to be on TV. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 158

Categorization

• SEED: The raw fact that the tabloid editor’s gatekeeping rule — fame required TV first — describes the exact pre-Instagram threshold that a generation later vanished is a strong essay hook about how fame-acquisition platforms changed.
• XREF: connects to: A leaked sex tape helped catalyze the Kardashian reality show’s launch