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What would Kanye think?
By Alice Kelly — Written on Apr 07, 2022
Not a day goes by without Kim Kardashian receiving some kind of backlash for her parenting and while recent criticism has primarily been coming from Kanye West, the SKIMS founder’s own fans are now weighing in.
After a recent video circulated showing Kardashian’s daughter, North West, riding around in a golf cart with her new boyfriend, Pete Davidson, fans were quick to cast judgments.
Kim Kardashian is getting criticized for allowing North West to sit on Pete Davidson’s lap.
Videos of Davidson taking Kardashian’s oldest child for a joyride around their gated community confirm that the reality TV star has introduced him to her children — something her ex-husband has been critical about for weeks.
But some fans are less than impressed that Kardashian’s daughter seems to be getting along so well with Davidson.
Some deemed Pete Davidson and North West’s hangout inappropriate.
“Don’t you think it’d be weird for North to be sitting on a stranger's lap she just met, without her mother there?” one fan on Reddit asked.
Many were quick to shut down the Reddit user for sexualizing the interaction. But others wondered if their apparent closeness might indicate that North has formed an emotional bond with a man who she hasn’t known for all that long.
“Maybe North is physically affectionate with everyone, but for a lot of kids, that level of contact also implies a level of emotional closeness,” asked a user in a separate Reddit thread about the matter.
“I think it’s normal to be wary of that kind of closeness between a child and their parents’ new partner. Especially while the kid is experiencing their parents’ divorce very freshly.”
Other fans worried about how Kanye would feel about North hanging out with Pete Davidson.
West has claimed Davidson met his children several months ago, and later shared a screenshot of a conversation with the “SNL” star warning him that he will never meet the four Wests.
On Instagram, fans flooded footage of Davidson and North with comments claiming it was “disrespectful” to Kardashian’s ex-husband.
Instagram
"They just messing with Kanye at this point because Ye specifically said he doesn't want SKETE around North," added someone else.
However, back on Reddit, fans questioned if there was misogyny at play in these kinds of comments. Would fans be so critical if West was introducing his partners to his children? Would West even care what Kardashian felt about that?
Others pointed out that West’s attempts to stop Davidson and his children from meeting one another were just another attempt to control his ex-wife.
“It's controlling behavior to expect a co-parent to adhere to your own specific expectations within the timeline of their new relationship,” a fan wrote.
“Pete isn't a one-night thing, he's clearly spending time with the family and Kim is serious about him - it seems a totally appropriate time to introduce the kids.”
As fans also mentioned, we don’t actually know West’s current thoughts on the matter or what conversations have gone on between the former couple that may have led to this point.
Equally, who are we as mere fans to comment on the inner workings of a family?
So, we asked a marriage and family therapist to weigh in on whether too soon for Kim Kardashian to introduce Pete Davidson to her children.
“Children can only tolerate so much turbulence at any one time,” says Judy Tiesel-Jensen, a therapist with over 30 years of experience working in couples and family therapy.
“Especially in a divorce, children are constantly asking themselves how they might have been to blame.”
“If a child is still grappling with that question, and a parent's exit, it can be overwhelming to add a new person into the mix.”
Tiesel-Jensen notes that there are factors that should be considered before making the introduction.
Is your child equipped to handle transitions? Is your partner prepared for any potentially negative reaction your child might have?
She also notes that the age of the child is relevant.
“Cognitively, kids aren't able to hold ‘both/and’ in their minds until adolescence,” Tiesel-Jensen says.
“Before then, their brain development forms in concrete ways of ‘either/or.’ A new partner could force younger children into either accepting [them] and rejecting [the] parent, or vice versa.”
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.