Kim Kardashian: Rob Is 'Not Comfortable in His Own Skin'
It wouldn't be a day that ends in -y if there weren't some excess of Kardashian-related news. And this particular Monday is no different. Kim Kardashian's Today show interview with Matt Lauer aired Monday morning and, in addition to talking about her book Selfish and voicing her support for ex-stepfather Bruce Jenner, who just came out as transgender, she also talked about Rob Kardashian, the often absent youngest Kardashian.
"I think he's just going through a phase where he's not comfortable in his own skin," Kim told Lauer during the interview. "And he is working really hard to get back to where he wants to be."
Rob has been mostly absent from the public eye since he skipped out on Kim and Kanye West's wedding in Italy nearly a year ago. He has been struggling with his weight for several years and it was largely suspected that his withdrawal from public life was because he didn't want to be photographed.
"I don't necessarily think it's because of the fame," Kim said when he asked if the family's fame had exacerbated the problem. "I think it's been circumstances in his life that he just really hasn't dealt with. Whether it's, you know, the loss of our father, or certain breakups, or, you know, he was extremely close to Lamar [Odom] and when, you know, Khloé and him broke up, that was really hard on him. So I think it was a couple things."
The 28-year-old has had two fairly high-profile and nasty splits since the Kardashian family was appointed the new Kennedys. In 2009, Rob and Adrienne Bailon broke up; their relationship was covered extensively on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Then in 2012, he and Rita Ora had a rocky breakup during which he accused her of cheating on him repeatedly.
While Rob tweeted out a message of support to Bruce Jenner after his Diane Sawyer interview aired, he was the only one of Jenner's 10 kids whom Jenner didn't speak about during the two-hour interview.
Over the weekend, Rob's social media presence was mostly retweeting other celebs's words of support for Bruce, though he's had a rocky relationship with social media in the past. Rob regularly deletes everything on his Instagram; right now his feed is empty. However, in March, Rob made headlines after posting a screenshot from Gone Girl, comparing the main character to Kim. Lauer did not ask Kim about the photo during the interview.
On an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians (on which Rob no longer appears) earlier this month, Kris, Kourtney, and Kim spoke about their concerns for Rob's well being.
"I feel like if I don't help him do something drastic, that he's gonna die," Kris said of her only son. "He's gained over 100 pounds in the last year ... He doesn't go out of the house. He's missed Christmas, he missed Kim's wedding."
"He obviously has some kind of depression," Kim added.