One potential hazard of running with an ultra-famous crowd? The people you watch on film and TV are never just seen as their characters. Sometimes, the star of your new favorite movie dated, and very publicly split with, your uncle.
At least, so is the case for Kim Kardashian West's daughter North West. The four-year-old just discovered iconic Disney Channel movie The Cheetah Girls, unaware that one of the movie's stars, Adrienne Bailon, was once romantically involved with Rob Kardashian, Kim's brother.
Kim shared news of North's favorite movie in her Instagram Story on Monday, writing:
"Should I break the news to North that this could have been her auntie?!?"
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Kim tagged Bailon in the story. Refinery29 has reached out to Bailon for comment.
Bailon and Rob began dating in September of 2007, but broke up two years later. The pair's romance was featured on early episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, with one storyline involving Rob dealing with Bailon moving to India for several months to shoot The Cheetah Girls 3: One World. Rob also admitted to cheating on the actress on KUWTK, a fact which Bailon confirmed on her talk show The Real.
Though Kim and the rest of the Kardashian sisters had a friendly relationship with the former Disney star during her relationship with Rob, things apparently soured in 2014 after Bailon made what some believed to be disparaging remarks about the Kardashian family to Latina.
"To be stuck with that Kardashian label, that was so hurtful to me and to my career... I probably realized that too late — not that it would've affected my decisions in terms of who I dated, but it would've affected my decision to appear on the show," Bailon told Latina.
Kim fired back on Twitter, writing:
"Funny how she says being with a Kardashian hurt her career yet the only reason she has this article is bc she is talking about a Kardashian."
Funny how she says being with a Kardashian hurt her career yet the only reason she has this article is bc she is talking about a Kardashian
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 30, 2014
It would be easy to read Kim tagging Bailon in this story as petty, but I actually think that it's just her extending a Katy Perry-esque olive branch to the talk show host. After all, The Cheetah Girl franchise waxes poetic about sisterhood and girl power — North's favorite film might have just inspired Kim to send her former pal some love.
Bailon herself responded to Kim's comments on her own Instagram Story, writing "Hysterical" and "This hair & outfit" with a few laughing/crying face emojis. How very cheetahlicious.