In a culture overwhelmed with ridiculous beliefs, an unlikely hero of rationality has emerged: reality star Kim Kardashian. Kim raised a healthy amount of skepticism of psychics in a recent TikTok video: In case you don’t follow the ins-and-outs of reality stars, Kim K.’s recent life cycle/plot development sees her trying to become a lawyer. She’s been taking an apprenticeship in the industry and presumably studying hard. She also consulted psychics, who read tea leaves or whatever and concluded that she would pass the California bar exam. Except, sadly, she did not.
“Psychics are full pathological liars” —Kim Kardashian
“All of the fucking psychics that we have met with, and that we’re obsessed with, are all fucking full of shit,” Kardashian said to her 10 million TikTok followers. “They all collectively, maybe four of them, told me I’m going to pass the bar. So they’re all full pathological liars. Don’t believe anything they say.”
According to a 2024 survey, about 20% of Americans love The Kardashians, and about 26% of Americans believe in clairvoyance. I have nothing but vibes to back this up, but I bet the circles for “Kardashian fan” and “believer in psychics” in the American Venn diagram have a lot of overlap. Kardashian isn’t preaching to the skeptics; she’s talking to the true believers, as she once was.
Kardashian has personal credibility here, given her long history of talking to mediums and psychics, and there’s something extra convincing about someone with skin in the game. This wasn’t some meaningless test for Kim Kardashian; she was asking about something that was important to her, and she wasn’t doing it from a skeptical point of view.
Where Kim Kardashian’s psychics went wrong
A savvy psychic tries to avoid making predictions that can be proven true or false. A medium might say, “Your Dad is up in heaven, and he’s super proud of you,” but if they want to stay in business, they won’t say, “Your Dad says the stock certificates are in the attic in the green trunk,” because when you check the trunk—if there even is a trunk or an attic—the jig is up.
Without knowing it, Kardashian put her psychics in a bind. By asking point blank whether she was going to pass the bar or not, Kardashian forced a binary decision. It’s understandable they unanimously landed on “you’ll pass,” because that’s what she wanted hear. “The fates are unclear at this time!” is too wishy-washy, and “You’re going to fail, girl,” would likely get you disinvited to the mansion. But I am surprised no one went with, “I can’t tell the time frame, specifically, but you will become a lawyer in the future.” That’s what I would have said. (I’m available for psychic readings.)
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to being unaware of anything Kim Kardashian does.
