Reality television icon and business mogul Kim Kardashian has opened up about a significant personal and professional setback, revealing she failed the notoriously difficult California bar exam. The 45-year-old star, who has spent six years working towards becoming a lawyer, confessed the news initially shattered her confidence.
A Dream Deferred: The Bar Exam Results
Kim Kardashian learned last month that she did not achieve the minimum score of 1,390 out of 2,000 points required to pass the California bar exam. This came after an intense period of preparation, where she studied for up to nine hours daily in the three months leading up to the July test. Speaking to Time Magazine, Kardashian admitted she felt "really uncomfortable" and lost her confidence for a while upon receiving the results.
She was keen to control the narrative, choosing to share the disappointing outcome with her fans before the results were made public online. "You get the results on a Friday, and I knew Sunday morning they were going to be live on the internet," she explained. "So I wanted to mention it first and let people know that it didn't go my way."
Bouncing Back: From Failure to Fuel
However, the mother-of-four demonstrated her characteristic resilience. Within a month, she reframed the experience, telling Time Magazine she is "pretty good at turning a failure into something positive." She is using the setback as a crucial learning experience to inform her next attempt.
"Instantly I was like, 'OK, let's do this, I know what I've got to do,'" Kardashian stated. "This really sucks because I put so much time into it, but I know what I can do better... You can feel sorry for yourself for a second, but I need to take that time and put it into studying more."
She announced her determination on Instagram, writing: "Well ... I'm not a lawyer yet... No shortcuts, no giving up just more studying and even more determination... Falling short isn't failure - it's fuel. I was so close to passing the exam and that only motivates me even more." She is scheduled to retake the rigorous two-day exam in person on February 24-25.
The Long Road to a Legal Career
Kardashian's legal ambition is a deeply personal one, driven by a desire to follow in the footsteps of her late father, Robert Kardashian, the attorney famed for being part of O.J. Simpson's defence team. Her journey has been unconventional, undertaken through California's Law Office Study Program (LOSP) instead of traditional law school.
This path has seen previous hurdles and triumphs. She passed the so-called "baby bar" exam in 2021 after three failed attempts and reportedly passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) earlier this year. In May, she celebrated graduating from her law school program in a backyard ceremony, where mentors praised her "fierce desire to fight for justice" while balancing a global business empire, television commitments, and raising four children.
In the lead-up to the exam, the pressure was palpable. Kardashian shared a candid vlog showing her in tears from stress, admitting, "I just feel like my brain's going to explode." She also humorously blamed the AI tool ChatGPT for contributing to past failed practice tests, claiming it gave her incorrect legal advice before lecturing her to "trust her own instincts."
Despite the very public setback, Kim Kardashian's resolve appears unshaken. She has previously stated her long-term goal is to transition from her celebrity persona, suggesting, "Maybe in 10 years, I think I'll give up being Kim K and be a trial lawyer. That's what I really want." Her immediate focus, however, is squarely on conquering the bar exam in February.
