Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner is coming to Dubai next week - and will make an “international reveal” while she is here.
An E! Keeping up with The Kardashians TV crew will also be on hand to document the excursion, with the powerful "momager" and reality-show boss touching down for an exclusive VIP red-carpet event on Tuesday, April 12 and holding a press conference on Sunday, April 17. Dubai holds special allure for the Kardashian clan, but there is no word in today's scant press release whether Jenner will bring any of her six children with her. At least TV host Khloe, Kim and model Kendall have all made publicised visits before.
Jenner may not want to answer questions on a reportedly explosive new tell-all book, Kardashian Dynasty by Ian Halperin, which alleges she not only brokered the deal for her daughter Kim's leaked sex tape - but engineered it from the beginning.
As for the business venture, anything is possible: a new reality show, some sort of property deal or restaurant – even a UAE-based show. Jenner is bringing with her Carla DiBello, managing partner of CDB Advisory, a brokerage firm focused on securing global connections.
According to CDB's website DiBello "personally secured and closed multi-million-dollar policies as a consultant at Parq Advisors and maximised brand potential for Kim Kardashian Inc., leading to a 300 per cent increase in viewership of the top-rated reality show Keeping up with the Kardashians, and resulting in Kim Kardashian as the "most Googled woman in 2012".
Jenner, who, in addition to running Kardashian Inc, also manages the booming careers of her five daughters – Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, model Kendall and social-media star Kylie, and her son, the less-successful sock designer and until recently recluse Rob, taking 10 per cent of their earnings for her work. She also manages the career of her ex-husband, former Olympian Bruce Jenner, who last year came out as transgender, taking the name Caitlyn and launching her own reality show, I Am Cait.
Jenner has been in Dubai before with an E! crew, during a 2011 visit when her daughter Kim created pandemonium in The Dubai Mall while inaugurating the Millions of Milkshakes outlet there. The episode, which came during the breakdown of Kim’s 72-day marriage to American basketball player Kris Humphries, was featured on the show, sparking criticism that parts of it were faked on a Los Angeles soundstage.
amcqueen@thenational.ae