NEWS GAL: Fall of A Family Empire – Are the Kardashians Over?

By Danielle Corcione | January 17, 2012 | Entertainment

Is America finally growing tired of the Kardashian name and brand, and are the Kardashians over?

Ever since the failure of Kim Kardashian and Nets power forward Kris Humphries‘ 72 day marriage back in October, sales and overall approval ratings of the family ΓÇô and its entire enterprise ΓÇô have dramatically plummeted.

The reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians is suffering from a 14 percent drop in ratings, from 3.4 million views to 3 million, according to the New York Post. The Post also claimed that US Weekly, In Touch, Life & Style, and OK! Weekly dropped 18 percent in sales profits when glossy covers of the sisters were in circulation. Even the Sketchers enterprise dropped Kim as a spokesmodel, allegedly because of drops in sales. Supposedly, her face was replaced with a French bulldog.

Kim and her sisters were once paid to show up at popular events. The Post reports Kim alledgedly paid $600,000 dollars to attend the 2012 New YearΓÇÖs Bash at Tao Las Vegas. However, the tables have turned. The trio is not being paid to not show up at these events. ΓÇ£IΓÇÖd pay her $600,000 personally to not show up at the Reed Egg,ΓÇ¥ Travis Bass, co-owner of a Chinatown hot spot, tells Post reporter Brian Niemetz. Manhattan publicist, R. Couri Hay, who also paid the sisters to attend clubs in 2008 and 2010, also says, ΓÇ£IΓÇÖm bored with them.ΓÇ¥

Are the Kardashians really HollywoodΓÇÖs new black plague? Forbes says “no,” contradictory to the PostΓÇÖs conclusions. Forbes reporter Meghan Casserly writes that the kickoff of Season 4 of Kourtney and Kim Take New York drew in booming ratings of over 3 million, a 43 percent increase from the previous season. The Sunday, Jan. 8 episode broke the record for the show, when 3.3 million fans tuned in for a new episode.

Casserly also contacted Red Egg co-owner Travis Bass, and concluded he has never paid a celebrity to show up at his downtown Manhattan nightclub. Nonetheless, Bass has never hosted a celebrity-promoted event. Kim was also paid more than once for her appearances at Tao Las Vegas. In fact, ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs a tradition,ΓÇ¥ insists Kim.

To further her counterarguments of the PostΓÇÖs story, the Forbes writer touches up on tabloid sales. ΓÇ£All four magazinesΓÇôUS, ITW, L&S and OK!ΓÇöstill delivered average or slightly below average sales that week. That is a normal fluctuation when one cover model graces the cover of four magazines in the same week,ΓÇ¥ reports Casserly. Also, the expiration of the Sketchers marketing endorsement does not correlate with sales, claims Suzy Weiss-Fischman, vice president of O.P.I. nail polish, which also endorses Kim as a business strategy.

On Friday, Jan. 13, Kim blogged about both articles. She praised Forbes for correcting the PostΓÇÖs inaccuracies. Khole also rebutted the PostΓÇÖs accusations on her personal blog, and celebrated ForbesΓÇÖ research on the family industry.

Of course, what really matters is what you think? Do you think its time for the Kardashian empire to crumble? Let us know your thoughts below.

photo credit: Think PR