Kim Kardashian admits 'problematic' Justin Bieber photoshoot should’ve got her cancelled

16 October 2025, 13:28 | Updated: 16 October 2025, 16:02

By Katie Louise Smith

"Now we look back and I'm like, that would have not been the most appropriate thing."

Kim Kardashian has done many, many wild things in her life and career so far... Some very iconic, some quite problematic. Now, she's admitted there's one 'inappropriate' photoshoot that probably should have got her cancelled.

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, host Alex Cooper asked the reality TV superstar and businesswoman to name "something you probably should have gotten canceled for but didn’t." Kim was quick to respond with her answer.

Back in 2010, then 29-year-old Kim did a photoshoot for ELLE with Justin Bieber (who was 16) that was inspired by the 1967 movie The Graduate and a joke made by Justin after he called Kim his 'girlfriend' in a tweet.

The photoshoot features Kim and teenage Justin in the Bahamas, running hand in hand, splashing each other in the ocean and gazing into each others eyes.

Looking back, Kim can't believe why anyone thought that was a good idea because of the alarming age-gap between them at the time.

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"I think I'm gonna get canceled if I say it," Kim said. "Like, I don't know who approved this, and I don't know who thought that this was normal, this narrative. But I did a photo shoot with Justin Bieber, and he was 16 years old. And I don't know how old I was."

"Nothing ever weird was obviously happening, and like, I just think that was like an odd concept and why none of us thought that that was odd at the time. But now we look back and I'm like, that would have not been the most appropriate thing."

"His girlfriend was there, his parents were. I mean, it was like nothing creepy at all," Kim continued. "But I look back and I'm like, that's the one thing that I feel like, you know, he's like a good dear friend of ours and the whole family, but like, who thought that that was a good idea?"

Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian | Behind the Scenes | ELLE

The actual photoshoot itself is no longer available on ELLE's own website but fans have shared photos from it over the years. There is also a behind the scenes video from the shoot still available to watch on YouTube (linked above).

Read more about Kim Kardashian here:

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• Here's why Kim Kardashian split from boyfriend Odell Beckham Jr.
• Kim Kardashian Called Out For Saying Spending Her Birthday With Her Kids Was "Torture"
• Kim Kardashian slams nepotism claims after North West’s ‘controversial’ Lion King role

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