Forbes recently launched their latest issue featuring Kylie Jenner on cover. She was named one of the 60 richest women in the US, and the youngest billionaire at that!
How Kylie Jenner leveraged her massive social media following to build a $900M cosmetics fortune:https://t.co/3VGT6MpwmX #SelfMadeWomen pic.twitter.com/fxaqucQZWx
— Forbes (@Forbes) July 11, 2018
Using her massive social media following as leverage, Jenner was able to propel her own business, Kylie Cosmetics, turning it eventually into a $900M-empire. But an online dictionary decided to point out on Twitter the magazine’s usage of the term ‘self-made’ to describe Jenner’s success:
Self-made means having succeeded in life unaided.
Used in a sentence: Forbes says that Kylie Jenner is a self-made woman. https://t.co/sr8Ncd7s5A https://t.co/ehEL7Cf6KV
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) July 11, 2018
Can we just say that’s just straight up S A V A G E.
But people found the tweet pretty amusing:
When the dictionary gets involved. I am weakkkkkkkk 😂😂😂 #kyliejenner #forbes #selfmade https://t.co/bYGAfNvke4
— Nọ́lá Thee Journalist (@NolaMarianna) July 11, 2018
Damn, https://t.co/oZdXwXZFkn is pulling no punches in 2018 https://t.co/4vwmOoNQ5u
— Jennifer Mascia (@JenniferMascia) July 11, 2018
Dictionary, show me the definition of "savage" https://t.co/J4PMytUtah
— Karisa Maxwell (@KarisaMaxwell) July 11, 2018
Apparently, several Twitter users have been pointing out the same thing because for them, Jenner isn’t exactly a “self-made woman”, as the publication has claimed. Having been born in a rich and famous family, people argued that she has the available resources she needed to build her own business from the ground up. So, obviously people are not buying it.
I don't think anybody hates her for it. It's just a matter of pointing out that she is not self-made in exact meaning of the word. The problem is not with what she does, but with how it's being disingenuously presented by Forbes.
— Alīenor (@that_wild_wolf) July 11, 2018
She didn't have the idea for a cosmetics line. The Kardashian brand already had several business entities and she was given a cosmetics line. Her "earned" income came from the show her family started. Everything was literally laid out for her. That's not self made.
— On the Phone with Blue Ivy (@We2DopeGirls) July 11, 2018
Forbes I am disappointed in you. You showcase entrepreneurs who are TRULY self made and that’s why people love Forbes. Are you really self made if you were already made before you were born? I think there are many other billionaire entrepreneurs out there who DEFINE self made
— Alexa Curtis (@Alexa_Curtis) July 11, 2018
Kylie Jenner is not self-made. She started with fame & fortune. (Not taking away from what she’s done) But she is not self-made, she had a huge advantage in everything she’s accomplished. She started from a place of privilege, wealth, and power that most of us will never know.
— Abby (@AbbyKlaas) July 11, 2018
Apparently "self-made" doesn't mean what I always thought it meant.
— AnnaLisa Scott (@TheWorryGames) July 11, 2018
“Build something from the ground up” pic.twitter.com/frO14reE0H
— Philbert (Dukes Mayo Bowl Champion) (@Philbert_11) July 11, 2018
“SELF MADE” pic.twitter.com/Ph205D5WDD
— 69 thick iron hammer (@Jonathan2k19) July 12, 2018
Disgusting. Starting from the top with $ and a big team to do the actual work, doing the easy fun jobs like picking colors from preselected samples and photoshoots..sounds tough, LOL. Shame on Forbes for promoting such fakery. #kyliejenner
— Nya (@tanyalcurtis) July 11, 2018
There were others who defended Jenner that it sparked a brief online debate:
I agree. If people read the article they would learn that she started the company with her earned income. Self made. Doesn’t matter if she was born rich! She’s smart! She took something negative and turned it into a positive. At the end of the day, she’s making money! Boom!
— Carla Francesca (@carlaacedit) July 11, 2018
I think your taking away from the fact she build a social media Empire and her success came of the back of that. So self Made is pretty accurate in respect to her cosmetics business.
— Treasure 🌴sland (@00youngjezzay00) July 11, 2018
Her cosmetic line is a standalone company. And plenty of people have that social media fame and make 0 money from it, so having soxial fame doesnt equate dollars. Using that to build a brand at 20 is an accomplishment.
— J.M.Perry (@armideon) July 12, 2018
Even her sister, Kim Kardashian-West, defended Kylie against netizens, saying that they didn’t “depend on their parents for anything besides advice” and that “no one works harder than my sisters and mum”.
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