Gina Heslop
Saint West, the 7-year-old son of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, made headlines recently for emulating some of his family’s famous assertiveness. On a Friday evening in September, Saint, accompanied by his mother and two friends, exited a restaurant after a basketball game. What caught everyone’s attention was his mischievous act of flipping off the paparazzi members waiting outside.
The trio had just wrapped up a basketball game, evident from Saint and one of his friends still clad in their basketball gear. After Saint’s provocative gesture, he glanced back at his pals and shared a laugh. One friend giggled in response, while the other followed suit and mimicked the gesture.
It remains uncertain whether Kim Kardashian noticed her son’s impolite act, but she promptly shielded his face and hushed him in an attempt to rein in his behavior. She also seemed to admonish him, saying sternly, “Hey, I saw that.” TMZ was the first to report this incident, describing it as amusing. Some outlets, like Page Six, noted that Kim had scolded her son for his inappropriate gesture, although her on-camera reaction appeared rather subdued.
This wasn’t Saint’s first encounter with flipping off cameras. In a TikTok video shared in October 2022, he was captured making a similar gesture to a passerby while playing with assumed siblings in a hotel room window during a visit to Paris, France. TikTok users had mixed reactions, ranging from considering it an ‘iconic’ moment to finding it ‘rude’ and ‘distasteful.’ Others criticized the photographer for not respecting the child’s privacy, regardless of their perspective.
Saint’s behavior seems to be in line with his family’s history of dealing with the paparazzi. Kim Kardashian once shared her struggles in trying to take a family Christmas photo with her four children during the Season 1 finale of “The Kardashians,” citing instances where her eldest daughter, North West, stuck out her middle finger in protest. North herself has expressed her disapproval of paparazzi intrusion, asking why they harass her family in July 2022, holding up a ‘STOP’ sign during photoshoots, and even shushing photographers a month later.
In the world of the West-Kardashians, assertive reactions to paparazzi attention appear to be a family trait, with the younger generation following in their parents’ footsteps. Nevertheless, the incident serves as a reminder that encouraging or teaching children to make such gestures is not appropriate behavior.
