‘Not the most appropriate thing,’ Kim Kardashian reflects on controversial photoshoot with Justin Bieber when he was a teen

Kim Kardashian is sharing her thoughts on a controversial photoshoot she had with Justin Bieber in 2010, and fans are reacting to the comments. 

Kardashian joined Alexandra Cooper’s popular podcast Call Her Daddy on Wednesday and recalled the photoshoot with Bieber, where she was 29 years old and he was only 16. 

According to Kardashian, the Elle Magazine campaign was based on the 1967 romantic comedy The Graduate, which follows recent grad Benjamin Braddock who is seduced by Mrs. Robinson, a much older woman and wife of one of his father’s work colleagues. 

The photos featured in the shoot show Kardashian next to Bieber in provocative clothing as the two posed for the camera while holding hands and exchanging looks.

Recalling the event on Wednesday, Kardashian revealed that while Bieber’s family and girlfriend at the time were present during the shoot and involved “nothing creepy,” she now thinks the incident could be seen as inappropriate. 

“Who thought that that was a good idea?” Kardashian said, while recalling the shoot. 

“I just feel like nothing ever weird was obviously happening. And I just think that was, like, an odd concept. And why none of us thought that that was odd at the time, but now, we look back, and I’m like, ‘that would have not been the most appropriate thing.’” 

The podcast episode had fans reacting in the comments, with some glad that the socialite recalled the moment, while others said she could have done it sooner. 

“I’m glad she brought up the situation with Justin Bieber because he was in many situations like that and no one ever called it out back then. He went through so much as a child star, it was not OK,” one person said on YouTube.

“During those years, [a] lot of things were normal. It’s only [in] recent years that we are more aware of situations. Kim never did anything nasty to him. They did a photoshoot approved by many people,” another user pointed out. 

“But she also dodged accountability and put it on everyone else. She should have seen how inappropriate it was at the time,” a different person said.