Kim Kardashian says she was warned working with Trump would damage her reputation

Skims founder says: ‘Hopefully, for the next multiple administrations, I’ll be working with the White House, helping them with clemencies’

Kim Kardashian says she was warned working with Trump administration could damage her career (AFP via Getty Images)

Kim Kardashian has revealed that she was warned working with President Trump could damage her career and reputation.

The reality star and KKW Beauty mogul discussed her dedication to prison reform, as well as her 2018 visit with the president, during an interview with David Letterman for his Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

In 2018, the 39-year-old persuaded the president to commute the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a great-grandmother who was serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug conviction.

During the interview, which was taped before and coronavirus pandemic and which will air during season three when the show returns on 21 October, Kardashian said she hopes she’ll be working with the “next multiple administrations” on clemencies.

“Hopefully, for the next multiple administrations, I’ll be working with the White House, helping them with clemencies,” she said, according to The Daily Beast.

Letterman then reportedly pushed Kardashian to share her thoughts on the current president, with the host explaining that Mr Trump’s pardons don’t make him “feel any better about the current administration.”

But, rather than discuss her feelings regarding the current president, Kardashian responded: “I understand that.”

The Skims founder also chose not to publicly state who she would be voting for in the upcoming election, even after Letterman said: “I know who I’m voting for,” according to The Daily Beast.

Kardashian did, however, reveal that she was advised against working with the Trump administration, explaining that numerous people called her to warn of the possible implications the partnership could have on her reputation.

“Trust me, everyone called me and said: ‘Don’t you dare step foot in that White House or your reputation is done,’ she said, adding that it was a small price to pay in exchange for saving the lives of people in prison.

“I said: 'I have to step foot in there or these people's lives don't have a chance,” she recalled.

Kim Kardashian says she was warned working with Trump would damage her reputationIn response, Letterman told Kardashian her “good work is overwhelming,” calling it a “positive force that diminishes what I consider to be unacceptable behavior by the president.”

The comedian’s response didn’t elicit agreement from Kardashian, who simply said that she is “extremely grateful” for the administration’s work on criminal justice reform and plans to “stay focused”.

While Kardashian did not say whether she supports President Trump, she has previously said that she would not allow any opinions she may have to interfere with her work on criminal justice reform.

"I definitely was aware [of the potential criticism], but for me, any of my issues have always been more about the people and not about the politics," Kardashian told The View co-host Meghan McCain in 2019.

"For me to think that I couldn't go and speak to the man that has the power to change people's lives because of some opinions I may have of certain policies and issues to me felt very self-centered that I was more worried about my reputation than saving someone's life," Kardashian added. "I put that all out the door and I thought: 'You know what? I'm going to choose [Alice Marie Johnson] over my reputation.'"

Season three of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction premieres 21 October on Netflix.