Kris Jenner has long been known as the ultimate momager, not just for her success at managing her daughters’ careers but for her unusually warm relationships with their ex-partners.
On the November 17 episode of Jay Shetty’s 'On Purpose' podcast, the 70-year-old shared her philosophy on maintaining connections with her daughters’ former boyfriends and husbands, even after public scandals and personal betrayals.
“I fall in love with people, and have lives and years spent with their partners or their boyfriends or their husbands, and have all these memories and travels and Christmas morning celebrations and birthdays and all the fun, the laughter, the joys, the tears, the babies,” Kris explained.
“These are — in most cases — the fathers of my grandchildren. And I love these men.” She continued, “That love doesn’t go away when we experience really challenging times with them. It just doesn’t turn off like that for me.”
It’s a level of grace and forgiveness that some might find surprising, especially given the public nature of many Kardashian-Jenner breakups. Kris acknowledged that some of her daughters’ exes have treated them poorly. But rather than airing grievances on social media or television, she stressed that her family handles issues privately.
“We don’t need to talk about these things anymore. It’s been done. It’s dealt with,” she said. “We’ve talked about it. We all know what’s happened. We’ve had it on the show or we’ve had it in our lives. Now it’s time to grow the f— up, be mature. I love who I’ve loved and I don’t like what they’ve done. No, I don’t. But it doesn’t make the love get any less overnight.”
Part of Kris’ approach, she explained, is setting an example for her 13 grandchildren. “What will my grandkids think 20 years from now if their grandmother treated their dad poorly? Or I wasn’t loving and kind and compassionate and forgiving?” she said. “So I teach my kids forgiveness. It’s one of the biggest lessons that I can teach them, to forgive somebody who’s treated you badly and move on.”
Her open-door policy extends to everyone from Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashian’s ex, to Tristan Thompson, Khloé Kardashian’s former partner. Thompson, who fathered two of Khloé’s children, attended Kris’ 70th birthday celebration earlier this year. “Tristan comes walking in the back door and [says], ‘Hey Mom, what’s up?’” Kris said. “So they’re always around and we embrace them.”
Kris also maintains a strong bond with Travis Scott, who shares two children with Kylie Jenner. Despite the rapper’s high-profile split from Kylie in early 2023, Kris describes him and his family as part of hers. “I’m close to Travis and I love his mom and his dad and his sister and his brother,” she said. “They’re family to us. And we share celebrations together.”
The tradition of keeping exes in the family fold has roots in Kris’ own experiences. After her 1991 divorce from Robert Kardashian, Kris ensured that he remained involved in her children’s lives.
“Robert Kardashian came to Kendall and Kylie’s first birthdays, and he was there for every celebration, and they called him Uncle Robert. He walked through that back door whenever he wanted knowing there would be dinner on the table at 6 o’clock, and he was always welcome,” Kris recalled. “It took a couple years, but it was what I had learned from people that were in my life in previous years. And it’s the same way I now treat all of my kids’ exes.”
Her philosophy, she said, is rooted in compassion. “I think that goes back to communication, compassion, forgiveness, and moving through that so you can get to a place where they know they can always come to me. Every one of my kids’ exes knows that they have an open door.”