Over the weekend, the makeup star, now 28, posted a short Instagram video that took a bold walk down memory lane. In the wake of her cosmetics brand, Kylie Cosmetics, celebrating 10 years in buisness. The beauty mogul decided to recreate her iconic promo video from 2017. The original video featured a teenage Kylie speeding the highway into a desserted parking lot in a rolls royce, applying a lipgloss from the her makupline then exiting the car. The next clip features her and two friends in police custody posing for mugshots. This ad went on to become one of the brands most memorable campaign shoots and synonymous with Jenner's online persona at the time, coined the "King Kylie" era.
A decade later, the new campaign video continues the storyline, filling fans with nostalgia. Jenner can be seen being "released" from her time in a mock-up jail. She appears in a black leather bra, micro-shorts, silver hip chains, black tights, and pumps, with her recognizable teal-highlighted long hair cascading down her shoulders. The clip, set in slow motion, featured her strutting through what appeared to be a jail corridor, with police officers behind her, as the words “King Kylie. Tomorrow” flashed across the screen. This throwback nod references her rebellious "King Kylie" era from 2015, when she launched her Lip Kits—originally called "Lip Kit by Kylie"—which was rebranded as Kylie Cosmetics in 2016 and quickly transformed the cosmetics industry.
The brand's official launch in November 2015 marks nearly 10 years since her empire began, and her latest visual seemed to evoke that bold, unapologetic attitude. Fans reacted enthusiastically, with some exclaiming, “Oh, we’re back big time!!!!” Jenner had been teasing a revival collection dating back to 2022 when she tweeted; "If i just so happened to do a king kylie collection what products would you guys like to see?", three years on, her fans' dreams have come to fruition.
Not everyone hailed King Kylie
Despite the positive outpour from die-hard fans, critics couldn’t hold back their outrage, criticizing the timing amid ongoing US ICE raids, protests, and a perceived disconnect from current events. The USA is under great political hostility currently, as the Trump administration's anti-immigration policies continue to cause strife across the nation. One user wrote, “The country’s boiling over, citizens being dragged off by rogue badge-hungry rent-a-cops, and Kylie Jenner drops a handcuffed hot-pants photoshoot to promote COSMETICS. This isn’t satire; it’s American rot,” wrote one furious Reddit user, referencing the ongoing ICE raids across the US. Another noted the recent "No Kings protests," which refer to those that took place over the summer opposing what organizers describe as authoritarian policies by Trump, symbolizing a dictatorship.
Some questioned if Kylie was trying to recreate controversy like her sister Kendall’s infamous 2017 Pepsi ad, which was widely panned, especially given recent nationwide demonstrations against authoritarian policies.
As of now, reps for Kylie have not responded to requests for comment.