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J
enner and Hadid have known each other for years.
You could say they’re almost related. Yolanda is
divorced from David Foster, a Canadian composer
and record producer. Previously, Foster was mar-
ried to Linda Thompson, who was previously
married to Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner before
he married and divorced Kris.
Despite some Google items that suggest a minor feud between
the two women, they appear genuinely friendly. “It’s fun to spend
this kind of time together goofing around,” says Jenner.
“Kendall is really good friends with Gigi and Bella, so I’ve had
Kris at my house, and she’s been on vacation to Holland with us,”
Hadid says. “There’s a bond there between the families.”
“I remember when Dynasty first aired,” Jenner adds. “I watched
every episode. Two women getting down and dirty, throwing each
other in the pool? It was hugely entertaining.”
Hadid, who grew up on a farm in Holland, says Dynasty was
“the first American TV show I ever watched. I must’ve been 15
or so, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God! The women in America are
so glamorous.’ And Krystle was my favorite. It’s really funny that
I get to play her.”
Both women, who have founded well-known dynasties of their
own, acknowledge that times have changed tremendously since
the days when Alexis and Krystle were all the rage.
“Women need to support each other, not fight,” Hadid says.
“I always tell my kids, ‘Be kind and acknowledge everybody around
you. People might not remember your beautiful face, but they’ll
remember your beautiful heart.’”
“As a woman, I think it’s important to shine a bright light on
other women,” says Jenner.
“In my family,” Hadid adds, “none of the kids are alike, so
I learned very early on that I had to manage their characters invery different ways. One is good at academics. The other one
isn’t, and so forth. They’re all individuals, right?”
“I’ve worked really hard since they were little to nurture rela -
tionships with my children,” says Jenner. “I was the Brownie leader
and the soccer coach and the room mother and the carpool driver.
I had the time of my life being in charge of my own little tribe.”
“I think you should keep your kids at home until they’re at least
18 ,” Hadid says. “It’s so important for young girls to develop
without cameras, without people judging them on the way they
look. They need to fall in love, have heartbreak. They need to go
to school. They need to have friends. They need to have all these
experiences before they go out into the world.”
Says Jenner: “Kim was the first one to realize, ‘Hey, my mom’s
not going to buy me everything I want, so I’ve got to get a job.’
When she was 13 she worked in a clothing store. Then she
started her closet organizing business. Her best friend Paris
Hilton was one of her first clients. After that, she borrowed
money from her dad, bought up all these Manolo Blahnik and
Christian Louboutin boots, and sold them for a profit on eBay.
My kids were savvy about the Internet. They figured it out fast.”
Even so, Jenner says, endless social media can backfire. “There
are people out there who are using social media to just try to
get attention. They’re starving for whatever’s missing in their
own lives. They’re lashing out at somebody. But there’s really
nothing you can do. The haters are gonna hate because they’re
miserable. You hope eventually that people realize there’s a lot
more to everyone than a couple of pictures on social media.
If people put more energy into going out and being a produc-
tive human being and getting a really great job and focusing
on their own selves, they wouldn’t have time to criticize some-
body else on social media in order to make themselves feel
better,” she adds. “At times I’ve told my kids, ‘Just stay off the
Internet for a while.’”
Hadid pauses to gather her thoughts. A faint ironic smile crosses
her lips.
“At this point they’re adults,” she says with a shrug. “They have
minds of their own, and they don’t always like what I have to say.
But at least they take it into consideration.”
Jenner’s phone rings, interrupting the interview. All morning
she’s been taking calls from her kids. Kourtney is in Italy. Kylie is
at the zoo with her daughter, Stormi, and boyfriend Travis Scott.
Kendall is working in L.A. Rob is running around taking meetings.
This time it’s Kim. She’s FaceTiming from... the White House.
According to later press reports, she is visiting President Trump
to lobby on behalf of rapper A$AP Rocky, who at the time was
being held in Sweden on an assault charge.“Kim was the first one to realize, ‘Hey, my mom’s not going to buy me
everything I want, so I’ve got to get a job,’ ” Jenner says.Continued on page 193