E! Denies the Kim Kardashian-Kris Humphries Wedding Was Orchestrated for Ratings
After its flagship star, Kim Kardashian, announced the hasty end of her heavily-hyped marriage, the E! network found itself under fire amid accusations the whole thing had been orchestrated for the cameras — claims it says are “completely false.”
The channel that airs ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ and its various spinoffs documented Kim’s summer wedding to NBA player Kris Humphries and aired it in a two-part special in early October that brought in huge ratings for the network.
Kardashian filed for divorce on Monday, a mere 72 days after swapping vows with Humphries — yet E! didn’t pull its scheduled re-airing of the wedding this week. Suzanne Kolb, president of E! Entertainment, defended the decision by saying, “We are a topical network and this is a topic at the moment.”
Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said, “Chevy manufactures cars out of their assembly line. The Kardashians manufacture stories like these. This is what they do. This is their product.”
“I think you try to milk it and say you’re not going to milk it,” added Derek Baine, a cable TV analyst for SNL Kagan. “You don’t want to seem real crass and taking advantage of a personal tragedy. In fact, it’s their job to boost the ratings. There’s nothing like a good car wreck.”