"'The waif versus the whale.'"
Kim Kardashian has revealed the media treatment she received during her first pregnancy left her in tears on a regular basis.
The reality star, who was pregnant on daughter North at the same time Kate Middleton was pregnant on Prince George in 2013, said comparisons between the two women made her "sit at home and cry all the time."
Speaking on the We Are Supported By podcast to hosts Kristen Bell and Monica Padman, Kim recalled how she had been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia while pregnant. This led to severe swelling in her feet and face.
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"I was not a good pregnant person. I was not a cute pregnant person. I did not like it," she said. "I hated it. I hated how I felt. I hate how I looked.
"I was so used to seeing my mom pregnant, my sister pregnant and everyone looking so cute and having these easy deliveries and it was great and they snapped right back. That wasn't me."
Kim said the swelling made her a target of cruel headlines and social media comments, with people likening her to Shamu the whale and comparing her to the Duchess of Cambridge.
"It was really, really crazy," she continued. "They would always compare me to Kate Middleton so it would say 'Kate the waif and Kim the whale, the waif versus the whale.'
"It was so nasty. I don't think that would really fly today, but it killed my self-esteem. I really can't believe that this was acceptable and that this was okay. But I would sit at home and cry all the time."
The mogul added that her relationship with now-estranged husband Kanye West helped her not to care what other people thought.
"I got to a point – and maybe being in a relationship with Kanye for a decade, someone that absolutely didn't care about likeability factor or what any perception of him was as long as he was true to himself – that taught me so much in the best way of just being me and living in the moment," she said.
"...That taught me to just be more confident in myself and truly not care as much of what other people thought."
