Did North West Actually Paint That? An Investigation into #PaintGate

Social media erupted this week when Kim Kardashian-(soon-to-not-be) West shared a photo of a painting that her 7-year-old daughter, North, made. The painting showed a beautiful mountainous landscape signed “North” (with a smiley face) that was very Bob Ross-esque. “My little artist North”, she captioned it. The issue? People thought it was a little too good. Like, really good. If you don’t believe that the offspring of two of the world’s most aesthetic-obsessed people could produce something that amazing, that’s on you. But let’s recap what went down, and how this created what is now known as #PaintGate (I’m the only one who calls it that, but it’s catchy, okay?!).

At 7-years-old, North West is richer, cooler, and more stylish than I am at 22, and apparently, she’s also a better artist than I’ll ever be. However, because the internet is the internet and the Kardashian family are the Kardashian family, people thought that the fact that North painted this was as fake as Kylie Jenner’s lips. After all, if North’s talent was well-known in the family, we all know that Kris Jenner would have found a way to cash in on it.

After everyone on the internet freaked the fuck out at this, North’s alleged art teachers daughter came to defend her on TikTok, bringing receipts and showing photos of herself painting the exact same image as part of her mom’s art curriculum. More evidence started to pile up on Twitter, showing ~another~ child painting the exact same mountain.

The photos weren’t good enough for Kim, who proceeded to use her Elle Woods-in-training skills and mounted an all-out defense on her Instagram stories, sharing that North and her friend both attended this art class, and that North, in-fact, did paint those paintings. Calm down Kim, there are people dying. She also seemed upset AF with the questioning of her daughter’s painting skills. “DON’T PLAY WITH ME WHEN IT COMES TO MY CHILDREN!!!” she wrote. “NORTH WEST PAINTED THAT PERIODTDDDDDABCDEFGZFDT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She also posted some of Kanye’s old paintings, showing that artistry runs in their family – as if we didn’t already know.