When a celebrity cheating scandal starts making waves, you can expect for most parties involved to stay quiet. They’ll speak through “sources” on gossip site or shady Instagram videos, but rarely will they make any lengthy statements past one pre-approved by their PR team. Yet, the alleged Jordyn Woods-Tristan Thompson infidelity fiasco broke all of those unspoken A-list rules. Khloé Kardashian went on a tweet spree she eventually walked back. Jordyn Woods herself went on Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Red Table Talk for a tell-all interview.
Still, the Kardashian family member in the middle of the drama, Jordyn Woods best friend Kylie Jenner, kept her mouth shut in the traditional celebrity way. There have been buzzy “insider” stories on TMZ, but little else from Camp Kylie save for one comment on a supposed Kylie Cosmetics drag (it wasn’t real). That is until Sunday night’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians episode “Aftershock.” The season 16 finale finally allowed the youngest KarJenner to speak her truth — and we learned the scandal nearly broke Kylie Jenner.
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In the most emotional section of “Aftershock,” Kylie calls big sister Kim Kardashian West to talk about some videos she posted to social media recently. The clips show Kim lip-syncing along to Brandy’s “Who Is She 2 U.” The lyrics she decided to share with the world go, “Who is she to you? Don’t lie to me.” Since the cheating scandal is the backdrop for Kim’s performance, Jordyn Woods seems to be the “she” in this situation. Although Kim was simply having some silly fun singing to Kourtney Kardashian’s breakup playlist, her performance, devoid of much context, comes off as shady to the rest of the world.
Kylie is beside herself.
“I just feel like we’re bigger than this. We’re better than this,” Kylie says over the phone. “If you want to call her, yell at her, do whatever you want. Or let’s all talk in person. But I just feel like the singing and the internet stuff — it’s just not okay.”
The cosmetics mogul understands why older sis Khloé is “fuming angry,” but she can’t abide her family bullying Jordyn. As Kylie’s voice starts to break, her reasoning becomes more obvious: she has seen Jordyn and she’s crumbling from the online hate. Kylie’s estranged BFF came by her home — which they previously shared together — to pick up some of her things. “Just the look in her eyes, she’s obviously really going through it,” Kylie explains, crying. “I just don’t think anyone deserves this.”
Even Kim is brought to a few tears over Kylie’s display of emotion. At least she had already deleted the polarizing videos.
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Kylie’s reaction makes sense when you take her earlier appearance in “Aftershock” into account. During the first act of the finale, Kylie talks with mom Kris Jenner about how she’s handling the scandal. Kylie says she isn’t “really” talking to Jordyn and hasn’t processed her emotions yet. “She’s probably the closest person to me on this planet,” Kylie admits to Kris. In a confessional she then explains how difficult it is to juggle her loyalty to her family and her loyalty to her “brother” Jordyn, as she jokes in a flashback.
This is why Kylie, for the second time over the last two episodes of KUWTK, signals she wants to reconcile with Jordyn — if only there was an opportunity. “I don’t know how we are gonna mend our relationship if she doesn’t figure it out with Khloé,” she explains, adding later, “I just hope that there’s a light at the end of this tunnel, but I don’t see it right now.” She wouldn't speak about mending fences if there was no interest in saving the relationship.
That line of thinking isn’t far from what Kylie said in last week’s “Treachery,” when the family first learned her best friend and Khloé's co-parent were reportedly spotted kissing. “It’s never gonna be the same again… at least for a while,” Kylie predicts in “Treachery.” “If we decide, or I decide, to keep [Jordyn] in my life.”
But, we shouldn’t expect to see Kylie make a decision about her oldest friendship for some time. As she says towards the end of “Aftershock,” “It’s a lot. It’s a lot for everybody, and I just don’t have answers for everybody.” Maybe that will change by the time Keeping Up With the Kardashians season 17 rolls around?
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