Doing their research. Kim Kardashian‘s new true crime podcast was called out for allegedly not contacting the victims mentioned on the show — but the team asserts they took the necessary steps.
The reality star, 41, narrates “Kim Kardashian’s The System: The Case of Kevin Keith,” which debuted on Spotify on Monday, October 3, and explores the life of convicted murderer Kevin Keith. Kardashian’s eight-episode series attempts to make a case for Keith’s release from prison, and two of his alleged victims aren’t pleased with the podcast.
Quanita and Quentin Reeves were among the six people shot by Keith during the 1994 incident, which left three dead. During an interview with the Daily Mail on Thursday, October 6, the duo claimed they were never approached about the KKW Beauty founder’s project. “She did not contact us, not one time,” Quentin alleged. “If Kim Kardashian wants to get involved, she should come and meet us face-to-face.”
He continued: “We saw it with our own eyes. You don’t forget something like that. I don’t care what Kim Kardashian says — Kevin did it.”
Quanita, meanwhile, claimed that she didn’t hear anything from the team behind the podcast until Monday when the first two episodes went live. “We should have been the first call,” she told the outlet.
Despite the pair’s accusations, Tenderfoot TV and Big City TV denied any wrongdoing. “The production team of The System made multiple attempts to reach out to the Reeves siblings. At the time, they decided not to share their story and requested we no longer contact them,” a statement on behalf of the company read on Thursday, per TMZ. “If they have reconsidered, we welcome them to sit down for the podcast at any time.”
The Kardashians star inked an exclusive deal with Spotify in June 2020 for a series about criminal justice reform, a cause she has become passionate about in recent years. True crime aficionado and producer Lori Rothschild Ansaldi joined the California native on the project, which will continue to release new episodes on Mondays.
During the premiere episode, the Skims CEO spoke directly to Keith, who is serving a life sentence in Ohio without the possibility of parole. “I’m really hopeful for this podcast, just to get your story out there because I think it’s so important for people to understand that … our system is so f–ked up,” she noted.
Earlier this month, Kardashian opened up about what inspired her to pursue this particular case on her show. “Ultimately, everyone wants to feel safe in our society. So, if people are going to feel comfortable and support causes of letting people out [of prison], and obviously policy has to change in order for that to happen, I think storytelling is key,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “Sharing people’s stories that are not just on a rap sheet will help people get comfortable and understand where someone has come from. Usually, you don’t hear the other side. Usually, you hear triple homicide and you get scared, especially if they’re convicted. No one’s going to look into [that person’s case] enough to understand, well, there was no physical evidence linking him [to the crime].”
As a fan of the “Serial” podcast, Kardashian said that she wants to dive into a new case with each season of “The System.” When asked how she juggles all of her business ventures with filming her reality show and studying for the bar exam, the beauty mogul joked that she hardly sleeps.
“But it’s a choice that I am choosing to make,” she continued. “School is very time-consuming. It’s a couple of hours every day, but anything that I’m involved in is going to be a hundred percent of me, and my time is really micromanaged. I want to finish law school and then my ultimate goal is to open up a firm that hires formerly incarcerated people. But that might take a while.”
