Remember back in 2012 when Kim Kardashian was pelted with flour by an animal rights activist during the red carpet launch of her own perfume? It turns out that it might have all just been a shrewdly orchestrated publicity stunt.
According to a new Channel 4 documentary The Kardashians: A Billion Dollar Industry, the reality star's former media strategist Sheeraz Hasan claimed that the incident was actually a planned "media moment" to promote Kardashian’s fragrance True Reflection.
The flour bombing incident, which was famously captured in season 7 of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, was originally blamed on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The animal right's organization had previously decried Kardashian for wearing fur, and the assailant even allegedly shouted "fur hag" as they threw the baking ingredient onto her.
At the time, Kardashian claimed to have no knowledge that it would happen, describing it to E! as “probably the craziest unexpected… thing that ever happened to me.” She even went on to jokingly say to her makeup artist, "I wanted more powder, and that’s a whole lot of translucent powder right there.”
However, Hasan claims that he had pitched the idea to Kardashian as a way to drum up publicity. “‘Okay, this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to be fine, you’re going to be safe, but we’re going to create a media moment,’” the media strategist recalls telling the fashion mogul when explaining the idea behind the stunt. “‘If we create media gold, guess what’s going to happen? Everyone’s going to be talking about your perfume, everyone’s going to buy it.’”
According to Hasan, Kardashian and her team discussed the flour bombing prior to the perfume launch and even had gotten her blessing before executing the plan. Lending further credibility to the conspiracy, Kardashian ultimately never ended up pressing charges against the attacker who was later released from police custody. PETA also denied any involvement, with the organization's senior vice president Lisa Lange commenting to the New York Post, “Perhaps the bigger reveal is that Kim’s assistant is a secret PETA member?”
Photo via Getty/ANGELA WEISS/AFP
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