Kim Kardashian was among many celebrities who got the chance to speak in private with Dr. Anthony Fauci at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star was on a private Zoom call with Dr. Fauci, along with other celebs including Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Katy Perry, 2 Chainz, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
The group Zoom call served the purpose of allowing the celebs to ask questions about the pandemic and helped Dr. Fauci with a greater purpose in educating the public. Interestingly, it’s also said the call was the “brainchild” of Kim K.
Kim K helped set up Zoom call with Dr. Fauci for celebs
As mentioned, the private Zoom call was held near the start of the pandemic, in late April. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said sports and movie stars were allowed the private calls. A total of 36 celebrities were involved in the group chat session, including Kim Kardashian.
The questions came with regard to many things the general public has become aware of over the months regarding COVID-19 safety precautions, including the concepts of social distancing and wearing a mask. Additionally, celebs asked other questions about what activities might be safe or not, such as getting take out food.
Fauci said he was “impressed by the questions they asked, by their level of sophistication.” He went on to say the Zoom call went for about an hour, and he chose to do this because celebs have “megaphones,” aka large followings they could broadcast to and “get the word out about staying safe.”
The idea for the Zoom call arrived thanks to Kim Kardashian, sources said, according to CNN’s report. It all started after Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams asked for Kim’s half-sister Kylie Jenner to send a message to her large following (her “megaphone”). Dr. Adams, appearing on Good Morning America and asked that Kylie tell her social media followers about staying safe and taking precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on millennials and the coronavirus: “We need to get our social media influencers out there and helping folks understand that look this is serious.” https://t.co/M1e2wFmU6F pic.twitter.com/FNjZB12mKK
— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 19, 2020
Jenner did just that in an Instagram video clip, asking people to social distance and self-quarantine. According to Variety, Kylie said she chose to create the video based on seeing Dr. Adams’ GMA appearance.
According to a source close to the Kardashian family, Kim decided to go a step further than Kylie’s video, so she assembled a list of various celebrities before calling up Fauci’s office.
“She wanted to speak with someone, to ask questions, so she could spread accurate information because there were so many inaccuracies those first few months,” the source said, per CNN. The rest is history, as the Zoom call took place, allowing celebs to become more informed from an expert source and pass on information to others.
Kim’s sister, husband battled COVID-19
Before the Zoom call, Kim Kardashian saw several family members battling the virus, and with so much uncertainty, it made for a scary and difficult situation.
According to a Grazia report, Kim’s husband, Kanye West, became sick this past February. Kim said she had to help Kanye as he fought the virus back when there wasn’t as much information about it all.
“It was so scary and unknown. I had my four babies and no one else in the house to help,” Kim said with regards to helping Kanye while he was fighting COVID-19.
A recent Keeping Up With the Kardashians episode also focused on Kim’s sister Khloe as she battled COVID-19 earlier this year. Reportedly, not many people knew of Khloe’s fight with COVID-19 as it was kept hidden from fans due to being filmed for the reality TV show.
Both Khloe and Kanye have since recovered from COVID-19 with Khloe recently attending Kim’s 40th birthday trip. However, it gave Kim some early eye-opening experience in dealing with a virus that was still being studied.
The unknown factor in her husband and sister’s battles with coronavirus likely played a part in Kim’s decision to arrange that helpful Zoom call with Dr. Fauci. Her attempt to become more informed, in turn, helped other celebrities do the same, and spread the word about remaining safe during uncertain times.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians airs Thursdays at 8/7c on E!