Kris Jenner only got $4,000 in child support for her four kids after divorcing Robert Kardashian, a new documentary has revealed.
Kris, 67, shares four kids with ex-husband Robert - who died in 2003 at the age of 59 – having given birth to eldest daughter Kourtney in 1979, followed by Kim the following year, Khloe in 1984 and son Rob in 1987.
The pair got divorced in 1991 after 13 years of marriage, and Kris eventually moved on with her second partner, now known as Caitlyn Jenner.
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A new three-part Sky documentary, House of Kardashian, reveals how the two families merged to become one of the biggest media franchises in American history - in spite of a number of challenges along the way.
We see how matriarch Kris wasn’t born with the same level of privilege as her offspring, having hailed from a relatively modest background in San Diego.
She had a brief career as a flight attendant for American Airlines before meeting her first husband Robert, who had grown up in the affluent View Park neighbourhood in Los Angeles.
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Having already established himself as a lucrative attorney and businessman – and one who regularly rubbed shoulders with big names from the entertainment industry - he was able to offer her a life of luxury as they dated for four years before getting married in 1978.
However, the documentary details how Kris eventually felt ‘unfulfilled’ 10 years into their marriage, and, after discovering that she’d been having an affair with a 24-year-old man, Robert ‘cut Kris off financially and demanded a divorce’.
“She told me Robert didn’t want to be generous, and didn’t want to keep her in the lifestyle that she’d been accustomed to,” comedian and actor Heather McDonald, a friend of Kris’, recalled.
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“There was no pre-nup to protect her, and I think he was a very smart lawyer.
“It was not pleasant. He threatened, like, ‘Wait until you’re in an apartment in the Valley.
“And she was like, ‘How ugly is this gonna get, and how can I continue on? That time was scary for her.”
According to House of Kardashian, Kris sought $37,189 a month from Robert in child and spousal support, but was awarded just $4,000.
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“It was not an easy divorce,” Heather continued.
“It was hard on the kids, and she had a lot of regret, like a lot of women do that end up divorcing the father of their children.”
While the Kardashians decided not to take part in the documentary, Kris says in archive audio: "Kourtney was 11, Kim was 10, Khloe was five and Robert was two.
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“So Robert and Khloe probably didn’t take it as hard as Kourtney and Kimberley, and Kourtney took it really bad.
“I remember taking this attitude of, ‘Okay, I’m gonna really just be the best mom I can be, and I'm gonna get the Mom of the Year Award.”
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Watch House of Kardashian from 8 October on Sky Documentaries and NOW.
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Documentaries, Kris Jenner
Jess Hardiman