Kylie Jenner’s promo for her new King Kylie Cosmetics collection has fans divided, with critics describing it as “deeply out of touch.”
On Sunday, the 28-year-old reality star posted a short clip on Instagram in which she was seen handcuffed as she strutted down a jail hallway while flanked by two police officers.
Jenner donned a black leather bra and matching micro shorts that had hanging silver chains attached at the hips. She accessorized with black fishnet tights and chunky silver jewelry along with a pair of black slingback pumps.
The makeup mogul wore her long dark hair down in loose curls with teal streaks — a nod to the daring colors that she sported during her “King Kylie” era.
The video concluded as the screen cut to black and a woman was heard whispering “King Kylie” while the words “King Kylie. Tomorrow” flashed across the screen.
Jenner’s new makeup collection is a callback to the rebellious “King Kylie” persona that she popularized during the mid 2010s that helped launch her early brand identity. At the time, Jenner became known for her edgy, experimental looks, especially after dyeing her hair blue.
The time period coincided with the 2015 launch of her makeup brand, Kylie Cosmetics, which she built into a beauty empire.
After Jenner shared the teaser, fans and some of her famous friends flocked to the comments section of her post to express their excitement over her new collection.
“exactly,” Hailey Bieber wrote while Lauren Sánchez Bezos added a raised hands emoji. One fan wrote, “KING KYLIE IS BACK,” with another writing: “We’re back.”
However, online critics vented their fury in a thread on Reddit, slamming the model for the imagery she used amid the ongoing ICE raids and renewed debate over policing and immigration enforcement.
“The country’s boiling over, citizens being dragged off by rogue badge hungry rent-a-cops, and Kylie Jenner drops a handcuffed hot-pants photoshoot to promote COSMETICS. This isn’t satire; it’s American rot,” wrote one Reddit user alongside a screengrab from the promo.
“She is out of touch,” another agreed.
“lol as if she could ever comprehend what the people she cosplays as are going thru,” one critic added. “this is insanely disgusting, and i didnt even think about how deeply out of touch this was til i read your title for this post. you’re so right.”
Other Reddit users criticized Jenner for reviving her “King Kylie” branding, noting it followed the recent “No Kings” protests against perceived authoritarianism under the Trump administration.
“To add to this, does anyone else find it odd that there have been ‘No Kings’ protests around the country, and she drops a shoot called ‘King Kylie’ with the associated imagery mentioned by OP [original poster]?” one commenter wrote.
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Some critics compared the promo to other controversial celebrity marketing campaigns, including Jenner’s sister Kendall Jenner’s 2017 Pepsi ad.
In the commercial, Jenner was seen leaving a fashion photoshoot to join a protest, where she ends tension between demonstrators and police by handing an officer a can of Pepsi.
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Fans quickly slammed the ad as tone-deaf and exploitative. Within 48 hours, Pepsi pulled the campaign and apologized, admitting it had “missed the mark.”
Jenner later tearfully addressed the incident on an episode of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” saying she felt “so f—– stupid.”
“Is she actually trying to recreate the same controversy Kendall went through with the tone-deaf Pespi [sic] ad???” one Reddit user wrote of Jenner.
“the outrage over this should compare kendall’s pepsi campaign…. like it’s that all over again….” another agreed.
Jenner has not spoken out about the controversy.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Jenner’s representative for comment.
