Kourtney Kardashian

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Kourtney Kardashian is an American media personality. As of 2016, she and her siblings were paid between $75,000 and $300,000 for a single post on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Behind that price sits a family from Los Angeles that turned its daily life into a television franchise and then into a long list of businesses. How did a reality show pitch grow into clothing lines, a lifestyle website and a health brand? What did Kourtney build under her own name, and what trouble followed the family's endorsement deals? And how did a private life that was filmed for years arrive at a marriage?

  415

• 2. Los Angeles Beginnings

  ›

  Kourtney Mary Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, on the 18th of April 1979. Her father was Robert Kardashian, and her mother was Kris, born Houghton. Kim and Khloé were her younger sisters, and Rob was her younger brother.

  The year 1991 reshaped the household. Her parents divorced, and later that year her mother married Caitlyn Jenner, who was then known as Bruce. Jenner had won the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The marriage brought stepbrothers Burt, Brandon and Brody, plus a stepsister named Casey. Half-sisters Kendall and Kylie came later.

  In 1994, her father drew national attention as an additional defense lawyer for the football player O. J. Simpson during his murder trial.

  Kourtney attended Marymount High School, a Roman Catholic all-girls school in Los Angeles. After graduating she moved to Dallas, Texas, and spent two years at Southern Methodist University. She then settled in Tucson, Arizona, and finished at the University of Arizona, where she joined Alpha Phi. Her degree was in Theatre Arts, with a minor in Spanish. Her classmates there included Nicole Richie and Luke Walton.

  891011

• 3. Pitch to Streaming

  ›

  In 2005, Kourtney first appeared before reality television audiences on Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive, where she earned money for charity. Two years later, in February 2007, a tape titled Kim Kardashian, Superstar leaked. Her sister Kim had made it in 2003 with her former boyfriend Ray J. The leak is credited with driving much of the attention that followed.

  Later in 2007, her mother Kris Jenner met with Ryan Seacrest about a show built around the family. Seacrest ran his own production company. He had the popular family series The Osbournes in mind as a model. The E! cable network picked up the idea, and Kris became its executive producer.

  Keeping Up with the Kardashians debuted on the 14th of October 2007. It followed Kourtney alongside her mother Kris, her stepparent Caitlyn, and her siblings Kim, Khloé, Kendall, Kylie and Rob. The show proved a success for E! and led to several spin-offs.

  In April 2009, Kourtney and Khloé announced a spin-off about opening a D-A-S-H store in Miami, Florida. Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami debuted on E! on the 16th of August 2009. That same period brought a cameo for Kourtney, Kim and Khloé in the third-season premiere of 90210.

  In January 2011, Kourtney and Kim Take New York put the two sisters at the center. Kourtney's partner Scott Disick and Kim's then-husband Kris Humphries joined them. A second season premiered in November 2011.

  On the 28th of March 2011, Kourtney made her acting debut on the ABC soap One Life to Live, playing an attorney named Kassandra Kavanaugh.

  On the 26th of March 2014, E! announced Kourtney & Khloé Take the Hamptons. It followed Kourtney, Khloé and Scott Disick as they moved to the Hamptons to work on the New York Dash store and open a pop-up shop.

  In 2021, Kourtney appeared briefly in the teen romantic comedy He's All That as a woman who sponsors products on social media. The family also announced that year that the flagship show would end after twenty seasons and almost 15 years on air.

  They did not stay off screen for long. In April 2022 the family left E! for Hulu with a new series called The Kardashians. Its first season premiered on the 14th of April 2022 with ten episodes. A second season premiered on the 22nd of September 2022, and a third aired on the 25th of May 2023. The cast included Kourtney, her sisters Kim, Khloé, Kendall and Kylie, and her mother Kris. Her ex Scott Disick and her husband Travis Barker appeared too. Tristan Thompson and Corey Gamble were also on the roster, and Kanye West made a guest appearance.

  121416245

• 4. Storefronts and Collections

  ›

  Alongside the television work, Kourtney opened children's clothing boutiques called Smooch with her mother. They operated in the Los Angeles area and in New York City, and carried the brand Crib Rock Couture.

  With her sisters Kim and Khloé, she also co-owned D-A-S-H, a clothing boutique with locations in Los Angeles, Miami and New York City. A pop-up store appeared in the Hamptons as well. The business shut in May 2018.

  The spring of 2010 brought a clothing line for Bebe. In August 2010 Kourtney announced another line, called K-Dash, sold on QVC. Later that year the sisters created a sunless tanner called Kardashian Glamour Tan.

  In November 2010, the three sisters released a book called Kardashian Konfidential. A year later, in November 2011, they put out a novel titled Dollhouse.

  Kourtney also represents the skincare line PerfectSkin with her sisters. Dr. Ron DiSalvo developed it for Perfect Science Labs. Another venture for Kourtney and her sisters was an endorsement deal that would soon end up in a federal court.

  2324263828

• 5. Endorsements and a Lawsuit

  ›

  In March 2012, the three sisters were named in a $5 million class-action lawsuit over the diet supplement Quick Trim, for which they had served as spokeswomen. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. It accused them of false and deceptive marketing, along with the manufacturer Windmill Health Products, the retailer GNC and others in the sales chain.

  The plaintiffs came from several states. Each brought claims under their own state's consumer protection laws.

  The Quick Trim case sat beside a much wider endorsement business. Kourtney and her siblings promoted waist slimming pants, beauty products, Coca-Cola and prescription drugs. In 2018, Kourtney endorsed Calvin Klein together with her sisters. The question of what a famous name should be paid to recommend was now a legal matter as well as a commercial one.

  35364

• 6. Poosh and Lemme

  ›

  In 2017, Kourtney launched her first solo fashion line through a collaboration with the website PrettyLittleThing. The 32-piece collection drew its inspiration from Studio 54, classical Hollywood cinema and the 1970s.

  In 2018 she teamed with her half-sister Kylie on a collection of lipsticks and palettes with Kylie Cosmetics.

  On the 5th of March 2019, Kourtney released a lifestyle website named Poosh. In November 2019 she joined Kim and Khloé to create three perfumes for Kim's brand, KKW Fragrance. Each sister received her own scent. Kourtney's was called Yellow Diamond, Khloé's was Pink Diamond, and Kim's was pure Diamond.

  On the 12th of September 2022, she announced a health brand called Lemme. It launched with three products and specialises in vitamins and gummy supplements.

  43444948

• 7. Armenian Roots

  ›

  In March 2010, Kourtney and her sisters released a 20-piece jewelry collection with the company Virgins, Saints, and Angels. The designs reflected the sisters' partial Armenian background.

  In October 2019, Kourtney and her children were baptized in an Armenian Apostolic ceremony at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat, Armenia. During the ceremony she was christened with the Armenian name Gayane.

  In October 2020, she posted messages and retweets in support of Armenia and Artsakh during the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

  65

• 8. Marriage and Motherhood

  ›

  From 2006 to 2015, Kourtney was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Scott Disick. They have three children together, two sons and a daughter. Her pregnancies and the births of her first three children were featured on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and the relationship appeared across the spin-offs too.

  From 2016 to 2020, she was in another on-again, off-again relationship, this time with the model Younes Bendjima.

  In January 2021, it was confirmed that she was dating the musician Travis Barker. In October 2021 he proposed at a beachside hotel in Montecito, California, and they became engaged.

  The wedding came in three parts. An unofficial ceremony took place on the 3rd of April 2022 in Las Vegas, after the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. The couple officially married on the 15th of May 2022 in Santa Barbara, California. A religious ceremony followed on the 22nd of May 2022 in Portofino, Italy.

  On the 4th of November 2023, it was announced that the couple's first child, a son, had been born. Before she became naturally pregnant with him, Kourtney had gone through five failed cycles of IVF and three retrievals.

  6672737578