Kim Kardashian 'happy' to sacrifice fame for full-time lawyer job
Kim Kardashian speaks onstage at the 2023 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME)
LOS ANGELES - Kim Kardashian would be fine living a life out of the spotlight.
The 42-year-old reality TV star spoke at the TIME100 Summit Tuesday, revealing she'd be "happy" to give up her stardom to become a full-time lawyer.
"I would be just as happy being an attorney full-time. The journey just really opened up my eyes so much," the SKIMS founder said.
"It gets overwhelming because there's so much to be done ... I brought my sister Khloé [Kardashian] to a prison for the first time last week, and that was really eye-opening for her."
The "Kardashians" stars had spent several hours at the California State Prison of Los Angeles County in Lancaster with Michael Rubin and members of the REFORM Alliance – a group that aims to help ex-cons successfully return to society through probation and parole reform – and a number of young social media stars.
Kardashian said the goal of the trip was to introduce a new group of Gen-Z influencers to key issues of criminal justice and proposals for reform.
She first revealed she was following in the footsteps of her late father Robert Kardashian Sr. to become a lawyer in 2019. Two years later, she passed the baby bar, the first-year law students' examination, on her fourth attempt.
"OMFGGGG I PASSED THE BABY BAR EXAM!!!! Looking in the mirror, I am really proud of the woman looking back today in the reflection," she shared on social media. "For anyone who doesn't know my law school journey, know this wasn't easy or handed to me."
Though she is not yet an official lawyer, Kardashian shared with moderator Poppy Harlow that she hopes her efforts in the movement will be "her life's most meaningful work."
Kim Kardashian, Jess Sibley and Poppy Harlow attend the 2023 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for TIME)
"I hope so," she said. "I always joke with my mom — who's my manager — I say Kim K. is retiring, and I'm just going to be an attorney."
The KKW Beauty founder also opened up about the role her mother has played in her journey.
"But I will say, I did learn my work ethic from my dad but I learned so much more from my mom than I ever give her credit for."
"I'm not even trying to be funny, but you kind of give the dead parent a lot of credit. She taught us how to have a home and how to make a home. She kept everything from when we were growing up. I could find a tooth, a lock of hair."
Kardashian has been passionate about prison reform and has visited the White House several times to advocate for inmates seeking clemency. For years, she's visited inmates around the country, including former Oklahoma death row resident Julius Jones in prison roughly a year before Gov. Kevin Stitt granted him clemency in 2021, commuting his sentence to life without parole.
In 2020, she partnered with Oxygen for a two-hour documentary titled "Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project," in which she revealed she hoped to become a lawyer.
In 2018, Kardashian famously lobbied then-President Donald Trump for the release of Alice Johnson, who served 21 years in prison for a nonviolent offense.
She has also hosted a podcast on the subject, "Kim Kardashian's The System."
FOX News contributed to this report.