Robert Kardashian Sr. Made Kris Jenner Study Self-Help Books & Wanted Her To Be A ‘Stepford Wife,’ Says Friend
He allegedly wanted to 'dominate' her.
Twitter / Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock While everyone is aware of the Kardashian siblings and their many relationships, not many people know about the tumultuous marriage between their parents, Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian Sr.
Jenner, previously known as Kris Houghton before her marriages, married Kardashian in 1978, though the two had met five years prior at a horse race when Jenner was 17 and Kardashian was 28.
Many of the more sordid details of Jenner and Kardashian's marriage was documented by author Jerry Oppenheimer in his book “The Kardashians: An American Drama."
The book lays out allegations that imply Kardashian was controlling over his much younger wife and sheds new light on Jenner's infidelity in the marriage.
Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian Sr. had a complicated relationship from the beginning.
At the time of Jenner meeting Kardashian, one of Jenner's friends, Joan Zimmerman, thought Jenner's mom, Mary Jo, was “kind of pimping her out” after the then-17-year-old started a relationship with golf-pro Cesar Sanudo, who was more than 10 years her senior.
That relationship quickly ended when Jenner met Kardashian, who reportedly cheated on Sanudo with him.
Robert Sr. left Kris for Priscilla Presley.
Kardashian ended up breaking up with Jenner and moving on with Elvis Presley's ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, though he would later go back to Jenner after the relationship with Presley didn't work out.
Jenner had been working as an American Airlines flight attendant when she took Kardashian back. Even though Kardashian was doing well for himself as a lawyer, he reportedly refused to give Jenner any money, even when she needed new tires for her Mazda.
“She needs to learn the value of a dollar,” Kardashian told his friend, Migdal.
Robert allegedly wanted to control Kris.
According to Oppenheimer, friends of Kardashian told him how he wanted to model his relationship with Jenner on the 1975 movie "The Stepford Wives."
“[It] was the model for Robert’s marriage to Kris,” said Migdal. According to another friend, “He had a fantasy about being able to dominate women.” Kardashian even gave Jenner self-help audiotapes to teach her how to throw a party and decorate for the holidays.
“Kris would say, ‘Oh God, I have to finish these tapes before the week is out because we’re going to talk about them,’ ” recalled friend Larry Kraines.
After their marriage, and the birth of daughters Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe, rumors of infidelity began to brew between the couple.
The long-standing theory that Khloe Kardashian's father is not Robert Kardashian seemed to initially start after Kardashian confronted Jenner about Khloe's birth, saying that the two of them hadn't had sex during the time Khloe would've been conceived.
“It was my strong impression from him that [Robert] loved Khloé very much, but he said it in a way that implied that ‘She’s not my blood daughter.'" Kardashian's pastor, Kenn Gulliksen, told Oppenheimer.
It was soon after that Jenner's alleged affairs, and she became "bored and rebellious."
“Kris would tell Robert, ‘I need to go out. I need to have fun,’ ” Migdal said. “[She] was coming home at 2 and 3 in the morning drunk, and she would tell Robert, ‘I have four kids and I have not lived life.’ ”
Jenner began seeing soccer player Todd Waterman, while still married to Kardashian, introducing him as her boyfriend at parties and paying his bills with Kardashian's money.
Waterman told the Daily Mail that a young Khloé would go with them on dates. “She’d be in the back seat of the car.”
Eventually, Kardashian caught Waterman and Jenner “three different times," including at the other man’s apartment and on a restaurant date.
After finding the two of them together in Waterman’s car one time, Kardashian jumped out of his Mercedes with a golf club in hand. “He took a swing and whacked the back of my car,” said Waterman. Jenner told him to “keep driving — [Robert] might have a gun in the car.”
Kardashian and Jenner eventually divorced in 1991, and months later she would go on to marry Olympic athlete, Bruce Jenner.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.