Kim Kardashian has broken her silence on backlash over how she allows her daughter, North West, to express herself. 

The SKIMS founder opened up on the matter as she discussed her parenting approach in a recent episode of the Khloé in Wonder Land podcast.

“I’m just not a judgmental person like that, so I try not to pay attention to it,” she began. “But, I think that no one knows unless they’re in my shoes what I’m dealing with and how we have to manage certain things from the outside world or even close in our life [sic] that we have to go through together.”

She also directly challenged the perception that she is trying to act like her daughter’s “best friend.”

“I think like the one misconception that people might have is like, ‘Oh, she’s trying to be her bestie and lets her get away with a lot.’ Like, no, Northy actually has a lot of rules. [That’s the] one area I do let her express herself,” Kim explained. “I love her for that, and she would do it, you know, regardless.”

Kardashian further clarified that North is not free from the clear rules and boundaries at home. She described self-expression as the one area where she allows flexibility.

“It’s funny, like people are like, ‘Oh, this blue hair, all of this, all of a sudden,’ or like her fake piercings that she puts up,” she said, before continuing, “I have pictures of her when we’re in first grade [and] pre-K, where she’d come with like a fake septum ring and she has her green braids and she has pink braids. But she’s always loved the colored braids in her hair since she was little.”

The reality star described her role as supportive rather than controlling, establishing that she encourages her daughter to be confident in who she is. Kardashian said the support was about encouraging authenticity, not rebellion. 

Kardashian is also mom to three other children, including Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, whom she co-parents with her ex-husband and father to all of her kids, Kanye West.