Kim Kardashian is recalling the last conversation she had with her dad, Robert Kardashian, before his death in her new biography, Citizen Kim.
“The last thing my dad ever said to me was, ‘I know you’re going to be good — I can see it. It’s as if I can see what your whole life is going to be like,’” Kim, 46, shared in the book, written by journalist Jonathan Van Meter.
The Kardashians star continued, “My dad didn’t go into detail, and he was kind of in and out of it: ‘I can see it.’ He put his hand on my leg. I’ll never forget it. And I was laying next to him on this couch — this L-shaped couch — and we were kind of squished in this way, watching a movie. And he said, ‘You’ll be fine. But take care of the other ones. And make sure your brother’s good.’”
Kim also recalled her heartbreaking final visit with Robert before his death.
“He couldn’t communicate, but he was in his little bed, and I knew his vitals were almost gone, and the last thing I said to him was, ‘Dad, thank you so much for everything that you’ve taught me, from how to be a good person, to how you did my homework with me, everything I’m going to do with my kids one day. And I’m going to take the lesson of you being in my life and carry that forward,’” she said.
Kim continued, “Then the pastor came into the room and said, ‘Everyone should say goodbye because it’s only a matter of time, and he’s holding on because you girls are here. Maybe say your goodbyes and then leave the house, and he’ll pass away.’ And that’s exactly what we did, and that’s exactly what happened. I left his house and drove straight to Brandy [Norwood’s] house — so, thirty minutes. And I remember I was on Brandy’s bed and I got the phone call and I knew.” (Kardashian worked as a personal stylist for Norwood, 47, in 2003.)
Robert died in September 2003 at age 59 after a battle with esophageal cancer.
In addition to Kim, Robert shared daughters Kourtney Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian and son Rob Kardashian with ex-wife Kris Jenner.
Kim and her siblings have been candid about their father’s death over the years, including the impact his loss had on their lives.
“At the funeral, when I saw my father in his casket, I completely fell apart,” Khloé, 42, recalled in her 2015 memoir, Strong Looks Better Naked. ”I don’t remember the details, but apparently I was an emotional wreck, and I’m told that I was so distraught I actually passed out. At one point I fell to the floor kicking and screaming, and I had to be sedated. It was really intense. I refused to believe my father was gone.”
Kim Kardashian called Priscilla Presley before her dad, Robert Kardashian Sr., died in September 2003. Priscilla, now 80, briefly dated the late Robert after her 1973 divorce from Elvis Presley. Years later, Kim called Priscilla from her father’s hospital room. “Robert and I had one last conversation before he died,” Priscilla wrote in her book […]
Kim has also credited Robert, an attorney who worked on the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial, for inspiring her to study law.
“He once said to me, ‘I think you’d be great at it. But I also think that it’s super stressful and exhausting,” the reality star, who is currently taking a break from her law program after failing the bar exam in July 2025, told Vogue in 2019.
Kim reflected on growing up around her dad’s work during the Television Critics Association’s 2020 winter press tour.
“I think that by the time I was a teenager and he was working on the O.J. case, I was sneaking in his office, looking at all of the evidence and things I shouldn’t have been looking at,” she said. “Maybe it was in my soul for years that that’s what I would have wanted to do. And I’ve even seen interviews pop up now from six or seven years ago. People ask what I wanted to do if I wasn’t filming my show. I always said I wanted to be a crime scene investigator or an attorney.”
Citizen Kim is available now.
