Kris Jenner's image spreads in Chinese social media good luck trend

7 hours ago 5

Richard Irvine-BrownSenior Technology Reporter

Variety via Getty Images Kris Jenner, wearing a pair of thick black sunglasses and dangling earrings, smiles for photographers at a red carpet event.

Social media users in China are reportedly sharing images of US reality TV star Kris Jenner as part of a trend wishing for luck and fortune on platforms such as Weibo and RedNote.

Hundreds of thousands of posts have been shared on Chinese social media in the past three days as users hope for prosperity for themselves, often humorously, including changing their profile pictures to Jenner.

Jenner, mother of Kim, Khloé, Kourtney and Rob Kardashian, as well as Kendall and Kylie Jenner, appears in reality TV shows which follow the family in everyday life.

As the so-called "momager" behind the family's media empire, Jenner is thought to have a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Douyin A screengrab from Chinese social media site showing the thumbnails for 15 videos, most of which show images of Kris Jenner, many of which are hoping for success. One includes a crown superimposed tiara on Jenner, another shows her surrounded by cartoon bags of money.

TikTok creator Marcelo Wang, who teaches viewers how to say popular phrases and slang in Mandarin, alerted many to the "super random" trend in a post on Friday.

He told viewers the trend had grown "because Kris Jenner is one of the hardest working businesswomen in the US, and Chinese people really respect hard work".

"Cosplaying Kris Jenner is like a Gen Z funny way to manifest success," he added.

Jenner herself took to the comments of a video posted by Wang on Sunday, writing "you're ALL doing amazing, sweetie!!!!" - referencing her well-known, much-memed quote from an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Reuters Kris Jenner, in dark dress and sunglasses, with sparkling bracelet and earrings, smiles while stood at the stern of a small motorboat. Khloe and Kim Kardashian, appearing similarly glamorous are also on board, as are two unknown men, one of whom wears a security guard's earpiece.

Regional reporting of the trend has included screenshots from social media sites including RedNote - known as Xiaohongshu and used by millions of people in China - showing edited images of Jenner in a range of workwear, from "lawyer Kris" to "teacher Kris".

Last year it was estimated RedNote had a user base of around 300m, including an exodus of people from TikTok, which was under threat of a ban in the US at the time.

The phenomenon has also spread to Douyin, China's version of TikTok, both in videos using Jenner's image, as well as videos explaining the use of Jenner's image and which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in the past two days.

Although the trend has yet to spread to western social media in large numbers, it has appeared on X. One person claimed they passed an exam thanks to having used Jenner's picture on their profile.