Nearly a week after Kris Jenner announced that her mother had died at 91, the entire family is grieving, heartbroken, and still coming to terms with the loss as they prepare to celebrate her life privately. And despite facing backlash for sharing a carousel of bikini pictures right after she died, Kim Kardashian, who later cleared the air, has been having a difficult time.
© Toni Anne Barson ArchiveKim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney with their mother, Kris, and grandmother, Mary Jo Campbell, during a shopping trip in Monaco, June 12, 2008
According to a source who spoke with People, the billionaire has been relying on boyfriend Lewis Hamilton, as she navigates one of the family’s most difficult weeks.
© The Grosby GroupLewis has been “caring” amid the loss
“Lewis has been caring and sympathetic,” the insider said, adding that Kim has been leaning on the seven-time Formula 1 world champion as she grieves.
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The source described MJ as far more than the family’s grandmother, calling her one of the women responsible for shaping the Kardashian-Jenner empire long before reality television made the family famous.
© Marc PiaseckiMary Jo in 2014
After running a children’s clothing boutique for years, MJ became one of Kris Jenner’s earliest role models in business, teaching her daughter and eventually her granddaughters the value of resilience, entrepreneurship and getting through hard times with humor. Grief was no stranger to MJ; she lost her husband in a car accident in 2003.
“Kris feels MJ is the reason she and the girls learned so many invaluable lessons,” the source said. “Not just about business, but about life.”
Those lessons stayed with the family through decades of success and personal loss. The source said Kim “truly idolized” her grandmother as a self-made businesswoman and spoke with her frequently, describing the pair as sharing an especially close bond.
Kim echoed those sentiments in an emotional tribute posted after her grandmother’s death. “My sweet Grandma MJ, my best friend, my gossip buddy, my forever twin,” she wrote. “You taught all of us the importance of family, and those values are something we’ll carry with us forever.”
The last slide was a text message from MJ at 3:49 AM that read, “Praying my great grandbabies can help fix the poor planet in time and find solutions to climate change and pollution to stop the destruction of this gorgeous earth and have a high purpose for this important time.”
The tribute came shortly after Kim clarified the timing of a previously scheduled Instagram post from a family lake vacation, which included photos of her and sister Khloé Kardashian in matching black bikinis.
Explaining why the post appeared the same day Kris announced MJ’s passing, Kim said it had been scheduled days earlier. “I’ve been by my mom and grandma’s side this past week, and my heart is completely with my family right now,” she wrote, adding that the family would spend the coming days celebrating MJ’s life.
Khloé has also spoken publicly about her grandmother’s impact, calling it one of her greatest blessings that her children were able to know their great-grandmother.
“Thank you for showing us that life is meant to be celebrated, that laughter is healing, and that love is the greatest legacy we can leave behind,” she wrote on Instagram.
Meanwhile, the source says Kendall and Kylie Jenner also considered MJ “the backbone of the family,” with a private memorial expected to bring the family together in the coming days.