Kim Kardashian is under intense pressure to publicly apologize and remove an insensitive social media post joking about Kate Middleton’s months-long absence from royal duties after the Princess of Wales revealed she has been privately battling cancer.
The reality television star and influencer, 43, was one of several celebrities who had poked fun at Middleton’s extended time away from the spotlight before Buckingham Palace disclosed on Friday that the 41-year-old royal had undergone major abdominal surgery and was receiving preventative chemotherapy after tests detected cancer.
In mid-March, as speculation swirled about the reason for Middleton’s lack of public engagements since Christmas Day, Kardashian shared a photo on Instagram showing her posing seductively in front of a luxury car while wearing tight leather pants and a revealing crop top.
“On my way to go find Kate,” Kardashian had cheekily captioned the post on March 17, implying she would get to the bottom of Middleton’s mysterious absence herself.
The seemingly flippant joke did not age well after Middleton’s devastating cancer revelation just days later. Social media users swiftly returned to Kardashian’s Instagram post urging her to apologize and delete the insensitive content mocking a woman facing a serious health crisis.
“After the news of her having cancer has been revealed, you should really take this down. It’s extremely insensitive and you owe our princess an apology,” one commenter wrote.
“I think an apology is needed!” another posted. “Can you please go find an apology instead??”
“Didn’t age well. You never know what someone is battling,” a third user remarked.
As of Saturday, Kardashian had not publicly addressed the backlash nor removed the post from her official Instagram account, which has over 350 million followers. However, photographers caught the celebrity leaving her son’s soccer game on Friday and can be heard asking “Any comments about Kate?” in a video, to which Kardashian did not respond.
Kardashian was far from the only public figure who had indulged in speculation and jokes about the conspicuous absence of the Princess of Wales, who had not been seen carrying out royal engagements for over three months prior to Friday’s disclosure.
Television hosts Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel and Andy Cohen had all poked fun at the situation on their respective comedy shows. Actress Blake Lively also cracked jokes promoting her beverage company after news outlets were forced to retract a seemingly edited Mother’s Day photo of Middleton and her three children last year.
However, Lively offered an apology on her Instagram page following Middleton’s cancer announcement.
“I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy and, oh, man, that post has me mortified today,” Lively wrote. “I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always.”
The flurry of jovial speculation was rebuked by royal commentators, with one expert breaking down in tears discussing how Middleton had become fodder for social media trolls at a vulnerable time.
“I’m mad at the Kim Kardashians making fun of the situation,” Kinsey Schofield told TalkTV while getting emotional. “I’m mad at the John Olivers, I’m mad at the Stephen Colberts, and I’m mad that this person became a punchline when she was going through something so serious and horrible behind the scenes.”
In a poised video message on Friday revealing her medical struggles, Middleton explained that she had been advised to undergo preventative chemotherapy after tests showed cancer was present following her surgery in January, which had kept her out of the public eye for months.
The Princess of Wales said she and Prince William had needed time to process the “huge shock” and properly explain the situation to their three young children – Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
“This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Middleton said in the emotional video shared on royal social media channels.
“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”
While the outlook is positive, the seriousness of Middleton’s diagnosis underscores how misguided the rampant gossip and insensitive jokes were from celebrities and public figures who should have shown more restraint. Many are now calling for a genuine apology from Kim Kardashian and others who piled on the rumor mill about the Princess of Wales when she was facing a private health battle.
