Twitter is upset with Kendall Jenner and her most recent comments made during an interview with Love magazine. According to an Instagram post by the publication, the 22-year-old model said, "...we’ve been super selective about what shows I would do. I was never one of those girls who would do like 30 shows a season or whatever the f*ck those girls do."
Fellow models noted how dismissive Jenner, the world's highest-paid model, was being to the reality and struggles of her less-famous peers.
Russian model Daria Strokous posted a screenshot on her Instagram story, writing: "'Whatever the fuck those girls do’ is do their very best to make their way up AND try to make some money so that they can provide for themselves and their families. Oh, and it’s 70 shows a season by the way and we are all fucking proud of every single one of the girls that did it.”
Victoria Secret model Leomie Anderson tweeted that she was "shocked but not surprised."
I’m shocked but not surprised by this attitude. Not everyone gets to skip castings, get paid more than everyone else and generally work less- it’s not about being “selective”, it’s about not having to put the work in but still receiving all the campaigns and editorials. https://t.co/13WsCRUNT5
And other models shared their grueling experiences on and off the catwalk — like the 14+-hour casting days that Jenner gets to skip:
I️ would fall asleep on hard wood floors at castings and on every 15 minute car ride I️ had and call people to meet me at castings just so I️ could eat and she most definitely had everything catered to her..... my migraine
And how Jenner supposedly didn't even walk during rehearsals:
@luvjesuscrisp I never even saw her at fittings for any of the shows I walked w her because she had the clothes taken to her apartment to have them fit. She will never know the struggle of waiting 8 hours to get fit and being grateful that she even had the opportunity to wait that 8 hours
Many mentioned that they actually depend on their earnings to support themselves and their families:
bc it’s so much more than booking jobs. for some models, money earned from a campaign, exclusive or even a show can provide stability for families back home. she’s complaining about work bc she’ll never know what it’s like to queue for hours yet earn nothing, to work ur ass off -
And that they sometimes can't even afford to buy food or visit home:
Vlada Roslyakova reminded everyone that most models "didn’t have a luxury to say NO to jobs" and gave a nod to those who are "surviving on two hours of sleep in models apartment, coffee and backstage food."
And Theodora Quinlivan acknowledged her privilege as a white "passable trans woman," and encouraged models to "uplift each other" because "Models don't just come from Calabasas... they come from Somalia, the Siberian tundra, a rural village in China, a trailer park in Tennessee."
Kendall Jenner has since tweeted that she had been "misrepresented" in the interview and that the respect she had for her peers was "immeasurable."
I was misrepresented in a recent interview over the wknd & it’s important to clarify the meaning. It was intended to be entirely complimentary but unfortunately, my words were twisted & taken out of context.I want to be clear. The respect that I have for my peers is immeasurable!
Sara Ziff, founder of Model Alliance, wrote an open letter to Jenner, acknowledging that while her comments may've been taken out of context, models reacted the way they did because their realities are usually much different from the reality star's: "Sexual harassment and assault, pressures to lose weight, late and nonpayment, relentless work hours, and excessive, unexplained fees that leave models working in debt to their agencies are among the many problems that models routinely face."
Dear @KendallJenner,