Kim Kardashian has landed in hot water with fans once again over her perceived “wasteful” actions—this time, regarding birthday decorations for her son, Psalm.
The Kardashians star was the subject of criticism recently after images from Psalm’s fourth birthday party were posted to her Instagram story, showing a wide array of balloons being used as decor for the festivities. Commenters were quick to point out that the display was, in their opinion, “destructive” and “over the top”, considering the worldwide helium shortage and the star’s own supposed commitment to environmental advocacy.
There’s a freaking global helium shortage. The amount of balloons these women use disgust me. Completely tone deaf.
by u/juicydreamer in KUWTKsnark
Commenters Criticize Kim’s ‘Wasteful’ Decor: ‘There’s A Freaking Global Helium Shortage’
The main critiques came as the result of a Reddit post made on the r/KUWTKsnark subreddit, a destination for those to, well, “snark” about the Kardashian clan, their associates, and associated media and brands. User u/juicydreamer posted a screenshot from Kim’s Instagram Stories of Psalm’s birthday party, in which the tot is featured oogling a colorful collection of shiny helium balloons and even life-size figures made of smaller, “balloon animal” style balloons.
The display frustrated those who understood that, indeed, the world is subject to a global helium shortage at the moment—helium being the main gas used to inflate at minimum the shinier foil balloons, but could have also been used for inflating all of the smaller balloons made to create the figures and decorations at the event.
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According to NBC News, scientists have been warning the world for years that the global helium supply—which is finite, and non-renewable—has been shrinking. The American Physical Society even called the helium crisis one of its “top priorities” in 2019: “Helium is the workhorse of chemistry,” scientist Mark Elsesser told the outlet. “Because of a helium shortage, some important experiments are being forced to shut down. The development of some drugs is being impacted. We’re losing time in research efforts.” And, of course, party decor is much lower on the list of priorities for helium usage than scientific experiments and medical applications, such as its usage in MRI machines. Party City has even addressed the issue, closing more than 45 stores in the last few years due directly to a short supply of helium hitting its profit margin, as the chain is often utilized for balloon party decor.
It’s difficult to know whether the balloons used for Psalm’s birthday were definitely inflated with helium—the decor company Kim tagged in her post, Balloon Studio LA, does not note how their balloons are inflated on their Instagram and the website is currently down for maintenance—but even the appearance of wastefulness left a bad taste in Redditors’ mouths, especially in light of Kim’s alleged devotion to environmental causes.
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Kim K Posts To 'Stop Plastic Pollution' On Instagram Despite Lavish Lifestyle
Earlier this month, the Skims founder posted another controversial Instagram story—in it, spreading a message for followers to #StopPlasticPollution and noting that, "every minute, we dump over 40,000 lbs. of plastic into our oceans".
Of course, fans were taken aback by the post, calling the star "hypocritical" for preaching environmental protection while living a lavish lifestyle of private jets and balloon-bedecked birthday soirées. A follower posted a screenshot of the story to Reddit, writing, "By WE, she means HER and HER FAMILY." One responder to the post even remarked about the family's penchant for balloon decor: "They’ve seen their Balloon arches right? I think most are pretty, but unnecessary," they remarked. Another commenter summed the general feeling up succinctly, quipping, "Not Miss Private Jet posting this," referring to Kim's use of private air travel.
Especially in light of the balloon post, the plea with followers to stop plastic pollution came off to many as disingenuous and hypocritical. "Balloons are terribly wasteful aside from the helium too. Literal plastic trash from start to finish," noted one critic on the original Reddit post.
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Kim's sister Khloé was criticized just a month previous to Psalm's birthday party for her own excessive usage of balloons, with hundreds of the decorations being utilized for her own daughter True's fifth birthday party.
