Kylie Jenner’s ‘Climate Criminal’ Controversy, Explained

The Kardashian–Jenner clan are no strangers to controversy, and Kylie Jenner has recently come under fire for her casual use of a private jet.

The Twitter account @CelebJets, which tracks celebrity flights, posted Jenner’s plane route after she flew 17 minutes in the air to avoid a mere 45-minute drive, belching carbon emissions over the skies of California as if there’s no tomorrow (and at this rate, there won’t be).

Twitter users expressed fury at Jenner, for obvious reasons, branding her a “climate criminal,” a label which seems entirely appropriate, considering the sad state of our planet.

Three days after the brief, extraordinarily wasteful flight, Jenner posted a black-and-white photo of herself and Travis Scott on Instagram, about to board another private jet. In the wake of criticism, Jenner appeared to be doubling down, including a provocative caption in the post: “you wanna take mine or yours ?”

The public reaction to the post was just as strong as the Twitter backlash; below the saccharine-soaked simpering and validation from fellow blue-check celebs and influencers, the vast majority of responses to the post pointed out the discrepancy between public consumption and the sickeningly wasteful ways of the wealthy.

While anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to the Kardashian–Jenners can’t claim to be surprised at the sight of them using jets like Ubers, posting a photo flaunting their wastefulness during yet another summer of scorching heatwaves, wildfires and broken records is, at the very least, in poor taste.

Jenner’s post serves as a reminder that while the public does their part to reduce emissions, the wealthy are spewing out pollution as though they’re trying to reach the high score, making a joke out of any individual, or even collective attempts to reduce waste. What’s the point of keeping track of carbon footprints when a single celebrity’s footprint rivals that of Godzilla?

With each controversy, Jenner and her sisters seem to confirm every negative stereotype of the clueless rich kid; Kendall Jenner recently went viral for being unable to slice a cucumber, while Kim Kardashian sparked anger after wearing Marilyn Monroe’s dress to the 2022 Met Gala, seemingly stretching the fabric.

Of course, the Kardashian–Jenners are hardly unique among the rich and famous; no doubt, there are wealthy individuals out there who make the family look comparatively frugal, but have the sense to keep quiet about it.

Even a celebrity “environmentalist” like Leonardo DiCaprio is emitting far more pollution than any member of the working class conceivably could, while the current crop of billionaires blasting phallic-shaped rockets into space are blowing “climate criminals” like Jenner out of the sky.

The summers are only getting hotter, and the wealthy don’t seem interested in cooling their jets.