Kim Kardashian Opens Up About How She Talks About Divorce With Her Kids

Kim Kardashian filed for divorce to find peace — and so that everyone in her family could begin the healing process now instead of later.

It’s just one insight into the reality TV star’s life that she’s shared with the world in two new interviews leading up to her family’s new show, The Kardashians, which premieres next week.

In the first interview on Wednesday — with Robin Roberts for ABC News — the 41-year-old mom and business mogul shared how she’s approaching the topic of divorce with her four kids, North, 8, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 2.

“I’m really open and honest with them, you know?” she said. “The younger ones don’t understand as much, but my two older ones, they know what’s going on. Even in this crazy life that we live, you have to have an open dialogue with your children.”

Kardashian was married to rapper Kanye West (now legally known as Ye) for seven years before filing for a divorce in February 2021. They’ve since been struggling to learn how to co-parent, especially as Ye lashes out on social media about parenting plan rules and Kim’s new relationship with 28-year-old Pete Davidson.

“I hate that it had to play out like that,” she said during the interview. “When it comes to family, Kanye and I will always be family. At the end of the day, I want my kids to be happy and healthy and think the world of their dad, and they do.”

She also spoke of how taking “the high road” is sometimes hard as her ex has done things like claimed she kept him away from his daughter’s birthday party and made thinly-veiled threats toward Davidson.

“It’s hard but at the end of the day everyone has their own ways of communicating and I’ve always been a champion of [Kanye] speaking his truth and I would always want that,” she said.

In an interview with Hoda Kotb's Making Space podcast, which partially aired Thursday on Today, Kardashian shifted gears to talk about why she chose divorce.

“My mom used to always cry to me when I was in these bad relationships and, you know, college and years ago, and she used to say, ‘All I want for my kids and all I want for you is peace of mind.’ And when I woke up and realized that I didn’t have that, that’s all I was looking for,” Kardashian said.

She said that before now, she was always trying to make everyone else in her life happy, while sacrificing her own feelings.

“I think that no matter what, it doesn’t mean that everyone didn’t try,” she explained. “And it doesn’t mean that I don’t wish that it had turned out differently, and there’s nothing more than you’d want for everyone to be happy. But I think it also showed a lot of personal strength for me because I was really a people-pleaser and I wanted everyone else to be happy, that I finally was like, ‘Why am I measuring and trying to make other people happy over myself?’ And that takes a lot of strength to do, even if you know that it’ll make your kids upset, as well, for a time period.”

Then she returned to that central idea of peace of mind again.

“I saw my mom stay in a relationship too long when she wasn’t as happy,” she continued. “I realized everyone’s going to heal quicker if I just make the move instead of not being my authentic self and not finding my inner peace.”

And, she pointed out, her kids won’t be young forever — they’re going to go find their own happiness, and she will be left with the decisions she did (or didn’t make).

“One day they’re going to grow up and be out of the house, and it’s just going to be me, and I’m going to have to sit there with my happiness,” she said.

The ABC primetime special also features interviews from mom Kris and sisters Kourtney and Khloé — and is available to stream on Hulu on Thursday. The Kardashians premieres on April 14 on Hulu.