How Kim Kardashian kept close eye on biographer during yearslong ‘Citizen Kim’ writing process

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer… and your biographer closest.

Kim Kardashian may have built an empire on letting the world watch her every move. But when a heavyweight writer raised the idea of a searching biography, we’re told Kardashian agreed with one caveat: to be closely involved in the process.

We hear the reality superstar sought out an endorsement of Jonathan Van Meter when he pitched her on “Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future,” then wrote him extensive notes on draft pages.

Before agreeing to let Van Meter inside her world, Kardashian went to his occasional boss Anna Wintour — who’s not exactly clueless when it comes to managing one’s public image.

Van Meter has written numerous high-profile cover stories and features for Wintour’s Vogue spanning roughly 17 years, including a 2019 profile of Kardashian and two separate pieces on her half-sister Kendall Jenner. He has described Wintour as his “fairy godmother” after she brought him to Vogue.

Only when Wintour gave her blessing was the project on.

Over five years, with permission and help from Kardashian, Van Meter interviewed family members, childhood connections and close friends, including Caitlyn Jenner, former teenage sweetheart TJ Jackson, Ivanka Trump and Van Jones.

The arrangement was that she would receive a copy before publication to fact-check — and, according to Van Meter, she took the assignment seriously, returning chapters covered in handwritten corrections and notes.

Meanwhile, Van Meter tells us: “Caitlyn remembered so much and was incredibly thoughtful about their interactions when Kim was young. But when Kardashian heard about her step-mom’s recollection, she responded: ‘Let’s see if it’s accurate.’” 

During her rigorous fact-checking, Van Meter says Kardashian was so moved to tears by the chapter about her teenage romance with Jackson that she had to cut her reading assignment for that night short.

“I gave that 13- or 14-year-old girl some grace,” Van Meter says Kardashian told him.

An interview with her ex-husband Kanye West was initially in the works, with Kardashian’s close friend and publicist Tracy Romulus promising the rapper would “talk your ear off for six hours straight.” 

But as West’s public behaviour became increasingly erratic, Van Meter decided he could no longer ethically pursue the conversation as West was an “unreliable narrator,” ultimately dropping the interview. 

He also decided to stay away from their daughter, North.

“I wrote 10 beautiful pages that I’m still upset were cut, but everyone felt she was too young,” Van Meter told Page Six. “She hadn’t really consented to being included in a book.”