Tragic Details About The Kardashian Family

In 2003, The New York Times reported that Robert Kardashian Sr. had passed away. The late entrepreneur, who was perhaps best known as one of the lawyers on O.J. Simpson's defense team in the '90s, was 59 when he died — just eight weeks after getting diagnosed with esophageal cancer, according to his ex-wife, Kris Jenner. He was survived by his third wife, Ellen Pierson, and his four kids with Kris: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob Kardashian. 

Kris later told E! anchor Giuliana Rancic, "It was so surreal, the knowledge he had cancer was one thing, but to think it would actually take his life, I never in a million years thought that would happen to him." Meanwhile, Khloé shared her theory on how the O.J. Simpson trial may have factored into her father's passing during a 2016 episode of her Kocktails With Khloé talk show. "He never spoke about it," she began (via In Touch). "My dad also died of throat cancer which does not run in my family. My dad doesn't smoke, doesn't drink. I think holding in secrets [and] stress kills you! I feel like you manifest things, you have to think — I'm into symbolic situations."

As seen above, Kim's husband, Kanye West, gifted her a hologram of her late father for her birthday in 2020.

In October 2016, Kanye West stopped performing in the middle of a concert, telling the crowd (via People), "I'm sorry. Family emergency, I have to stop the show." What he'd learned was that wife Kim Kardashian had been robbed, tied up, and held at gunpoint in her Parisian hotel room. The following January, ET translated the police report from Le Journal du Dimanche, a French newspaper, which stated that Kim had told the authorities, "I was wearing a bathrobe, naked underneath. They pushed me on the bed and strapped me with plastic cables, taping my hands, mouth and legs. They carried me into the bathroom, more specifically, the bathtub." 

At the time, Kim estimated that $5 million worth of jewelry was stolen. During her 2020 interview on David Letterman's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Kim publicly shared more details about the incident. Fearing that she was "going to get raped" after being tied up, she'd told herself to "just deal." When the man pulled out a gun, Kim thought of her sister, Kourtney Kardashian, telling herself, "She's gonna come home, and I'm gonna to be dead in the room. She's gonna be traumatized for the rest of her life if she sees me."

Thankfully, Kim survived the ordeal, and the perpetrators were eventually arrested (via ET). Even so, she's understandably struggled with anxiety after the incident.

In 2017, former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner angered the Kardashians due to claims made about ex-wife Kris Jenner in her book, The Secrets of My Life – namely, alleging that Kris knew more about her true gender identity than she had publicly let on when Caitlyn transitioned. 

"[Kris] insists that she was taken by surprise by my ultimate transition to Caitlyn, which obviously means in her mind that she did not know enough," Caitlyn wrote. "On Keeping Up With The Kardashians she shed copious tears in coming to grips with it. Given what she saw, the whole reaction seemed a little puzzling then and seems puzzling now." Noting that their marriage "became acrimonious misery" in her book, Caitlyn also admitted to intentionally excluding the Kardashian side of the family from her Diane Sawyer interview, in which she came out as a transgender woman, "because of research showing that anytime a Kardashian is on television, many in the public tend to think it is a publicity stunt to make money." 

Speaking about the book in a KUWTK episode, Kris claimed, "Everything she says is all made up." Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian remarked, "Caitlyn has every right to feel however she feels, but why bring my mom into it one more time? I just feel so bad for my mom."

When Khloé Kardashian announced that she and NBA star Tristan Thompson were expecting a child together, it seemed as though she'd finally found her happily ever after. But it all appeared to come crashing down in April 2018, when TMZ shared footage of Tristan heading into a hotel with another woman, while Khloé was preparing to give birth to their daughter, True. Despite more cheating allegations coming out that same day, Tristan was in the delivery room with Khloé just hours later, along with the rest of her family, who understandably had tension with Tristan, per People.

The new parents managed to quietly stay together throughout the scandal, but Tristan reportedly slipped up again less than a year later, this time with Kylie Jenner's then-BFF, Jordyn Woods. Jordyn later claimed it was just a peck on the lips when she appeared on Red Table Talk. Regardless, Khloé and Tristan split up after the incident came to light in February 2019. 

However, by August 2020, Us Weekly reported that they'd gotten back together, citing a source that claimed the reality starlet was "hopeful" about their future. That October, E! shared clips of the on-and-off couple getting cozy at Kim Kardashian's birthday celebration. They basically confirmed their reconciliation with coordinating Halloween costumes later that month.

Scott Disick, who shares three children with ex-girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian, sadly lost both of his parents in the span of a few short months. After his mother, Bonnie Disick, died following an undisclosed illness (via Us Weekly) in November 2013, E! confirmed the following January that his dad, Jeffrey Disick, had also passed away. His cause of death was never officially revealed, but Scott previously mentioned that his father had suffered "from diabetes and need[ed] a heart replacement" during a Keeping Up With the Kardashians episode, per Hollywood Life. 

Although viewers saw Scott struggling with the aftermath of the losses, he didn't open up about it until a 2020 episode, where he explained, "You know, I don't think I was really ready to talk about my family. But now, I think the more I talk about my parents, the more my kids will feel connected to them and remember them." 

That May, Scott's attorney confirmed to E! that the reality star went to a rehab center "in an effort to finally come to terms and deal with the pain that [he] has been silently suffering for many years due to" his parents' sudden deaths. Unfortunately, Scott's privacy was violated when someone leaked a photo of him at a group meeting. As a result, he checked out of the facility. 

In February 2015, two months prior to Caitlyn Jenner's transition, the reality TV alum was involved in a fatal multi-car crash. According to CNN, the former Olympian's car rear-ended a Lexus driven by a woman named Kimberly Howe. The collision sent her vehicle into oncoming traffic, which was then "struck head-on by another vehicle, killing her." The I Am Cait alum wasn't injured, but five children and two adults were hospitalized following the incident. 

"My heartfelt and deepest sympathies go out to the family and loved ones, and to all of those who were involved or injured in this terrible accident," Caitlyn stated at the time (via E! News). "It is a devastating tragedy and I cannot pretend to imagine what this family is going through at this time. I am praying for them. I will continue to cooperate in every way possible."

R Online reports that Caitlyn didn't appear to be on the phone, but was reportedly smoking a cigarette moments before the accident. The father of six, who had engaged her brakes prior to impact, told the court that paparazzi played a role in the accident, according to USA Today. Prosecutors didn't charge the star with any crimes, but ABC News reports that Caitlyn would pay $800,000 to settle a wrongful death civil lawsuit stemming from the crash in 2018.

Kanye West has long been open about his diagnosis with bipolar disorder, and once referred to his mental illness as his "superpower" when tapping into his creativity, per Forbes. However, a series of events in the summer of 2020 caused growing concern for his well-being among the KarJenner clan.

After announcing his ill-fated run for president, Kanye shared a series of now-deleted tweets about the family, particularly wife Kim Kardashian and mother-in-law Kris Jenner. "Kim was trying to fly to Wyoming with a doctor to lock me up like on the movie Get Out because I cried about saving my daughters life yesterday," referring to his revelation that he initially wanted Kim to get an abortion when she was pregnant with daughter North West, per People. He made a similar claim against Kris, whom he'd nicknamed "Kris Jong-Un," writing that she was "not allowed around [his] children," the outlet reports, also writing in another tweet that he'd been "trying to get divorced" from Kim since November 2018.

Addressing her rapper husband's alarming social media activity, Kim released a statement. "As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder. Anyone who has this or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand," she said in part (via TMZ). Seemingly, Kanye, Kim, and the family have worked through those struggles privately.