'Deals & Steals for you and your home!

Open menu

  • Video
  • Shop
  • Culture
  • Family
  • Wellness
  • Food
  • Living
  • Style
  • Travel
  • News
  • Book Club
  • GMA3: WYNTK
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • Terms of Use
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Contact Us
  • © 2023 ABC News
  • Culture

Kim Kardashian West talks path to becoming a lawyer and new shapewear line

VIDEO: Kim Kardashian talks new projects, from criminal justice to new inclusive shapewear
6:33
Kim Kardashian West talks new projects, from criminal justice to inclusive shapewear
ABCNews.com
ByHayley FitzPatrick
February 05, 2020, 9:01 am

Kim Kardashian West spoke about her interest in criminal justice reform during an appearance on "Good Morning America" Wednesday.

The businesswoman and reality star, who is studying to become an attorney, revealed how her role as a mother and the importance of family in her life influenced her decision to study law.

Kardashian has four children, North, 6, Saint, 4, Chicago, 2, and 8-month-old Psalm, with her husband, Kanye West.

MORE: Kim Kardashian West describes being with Rodney Reed when he learned of his stay of execution

"I think what drew me to Miss Alice Johnson was just knowing that, you know, a decision she made tore apart her whole family," Kardashian shared, mentioning the Memphis grandmother she helped free from prison in 2018. Johnson, a first-time offender, had been serving a life sentence on drug charges until her sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump.

VIDEO: Kim Kardashian-backed ‘women warriors’ free people from life sentences
13:13
Brittany Barnett and MiAngel Cody, who are backed by Kim Kardashian West, share a personal interest in helping nonviolent drug offenders.

"She has so many brothers and sisters and kids and grand kids and so I really put myself in her situation thinking, well, what would I have done if I had to feed my children and knowing that a bad choice changed her whole life really made me feel for her and understand her," Kardashian continued.

"I feel like she put a face for criminal justice and reform," she added.

Kardashian said Johnson was one of the reasons she wanted to create her new Oxygen project, titled, "Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project."

"I picked cases with completely different situations where very traumatic things have happened -- anything from sex trafficking to murders, where if you see what happened to them or what they have done on paper, you would not understand."

She continued, "But once you hear their story and feel like you see what led them to make those choices, you realize that we're not really different from them."

MORE: Kim Kardashian West on studying for bar exam: 'You can create your own lanes'

In 2019, Kardashian announced she is studying for the bar exam, while doing a four-year apprenticeship. She plans to take the bar exam in 2022 to get her law degree, without going to law school, as California permits.

She gave an update on how her journey to becoming a lawyer is going.

"I mean it's so hard," she admitted. "I just finished year one. I'm about to take the baby bar in a few months, which is a necessity in order to continue on for the next three years in California, so it feels good having finished year one. It's very hard."

MORE: Michigan inmate serving 60-year sentence for selling weed requests clemency

She said she manages to get her studying in despite an intensely busy schedule. "That's in my afternoons," she said on when she puts in the work. "I go to the office ... and then I do my extra reading at home at about 9 p.m. From 9 to 11."

Editor’s Picks

Meet the Kim Kardashian-backed 'women warriors' who have helped save more than 40 people serving life sentences without parole

  • Dec 12, 2019

Kim Kardashian West on studying for bar exam: 'You can create your own lanes'

  • Apr 16, 2019

Kim Kardashian West describes being with Rodney Reed when he learned of his stay of execution

  • Nov 15, 2019

Her law practice has assisted in all areas of her life, including in growing her businesses and partnerships.

She is launching a new partnership for her shapewear company, SKIMS, with Nordstrom Wednesday.

"I read over every contract now -- it's what I'm studying -- and it makes a lot of sense now to me," she shared. "Had I gone to school when, you know, years ago when I should have, it wouldn't have meant as much as it does to me and I wouldn't have been as into it as I am because now everything that I go through -- personal injury law, everything -- it all makes sense to me now and I love it."

Another element she puts special focus on in her businesses is inclusivity, especially with SKIMS, as she wants her shapewear to fit every body.

"I would always cut up my own shapewear. I would dye them. I would put them in a sink and put tea bags and coffee bags to make them a little bit darker skin tone," she explained. "So if I couldn't find shapewear that was my skin tone, what is my daughter going to find when she grows up and needs shapewear?"

MORE: Look inside Kim and Kanye's McMansion-turned-monastery

"So I wanted to make a variety of a shade range that I didn't feel like was out there in the marketplace, and I've always worn shapewear so I just wanted to modernize it and make it a little more comfortable and more durable," she described, noting she "put so much into it."

After "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan expressed some interest in shapewear for men, Kardashian teased, "Soon, maybe soon. We're working on it."

Related Topics
  • Kardashians

Editor’s Picks

Meet the Kim Kardashian-backed 'women warriors' who have helped save more than 40 people serving life sentences without parole

  • Dec 12, 2019

Kim Kardashian West on studying for bar exam: 'You can create your own lanes'

  • Apr 16, 2019

Kim Kardashian West describes being with Rodney Reed when he learned of his stay of execution

  • Nov 15, 2019
Up Next in Culture—

Tim McGraw shares loving photo of wife Faith Hill: 'You light up every room you walk into'

September 21, 2023

Actor Matt Walsh 'taking a pause' from 'Dancing with the Stars' as ABC puts postponement plans in place

September 21, 2023

Sophie Turner sues Joe Jonas to return their 2 children to England

September 21, 2023

Blink-182 releases emotional music video for new song 'ONE MORE TIME'

September 21, 2023

Up Next in Culture—

Tim McGraw shares loving photo of wife Faith Hill: 'You light up every room you walk into'

September 21, 2023

Actor Matt Walsh 'taking a pause' from 'Dancing with the Stars' as ABC puts postponement plans in place

September 21, 2023

Sophie Turner sues Joe Jonas to return their 2 children to England

September 21, 2023

Blink-182 releases emotional music video for new song 'ONE MORE TIME'

September 21, 2023

The latest lifestyle and entertainment news and inspiration for how to live your best life - all from Good Morning America.
  • Contests
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Children’s Online Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • About Nielsen Measurement
  • Press
  • Feedback
  • ABC News
  • ABC
  • All Videos
  • All Topics
  • Sitemap

© 2023 ABC News
  • Privacy Policy— 
  • Your US State Privacy Rights— 
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy— 
  • Interest-Based Ads— 
  • Terms of Use— 
  • Do Not Sell My Info— 
  • Contact Us— 

© 2023 ABC News