A recently resurfaced photo of Kim Kardashian wearing a breathing mask to promote her friend's luxury crisis kit has seen her slammed as "a millionaire exploiting a pandemic".
In February, the reality TV star posed for a selfie wearing the N95 mask produced by 3M, which is included in publicist Simon Hucks' 'emergency-preparedness kit' called Judy.
Now, the Kim's promotion of the Judy kit has come under fire, not least because the N95 mask is reportedly in high demand and widely under-supplied for medical staff amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Kim K is trash for a lot of reasons but more recently she promoted this Judy 'crisis kit', which costs $60," one Twitter user wrote.
"Literally a millionaire exploiting a pandemic."
"N95 masks become unsterile the minute they're opened and used and can only be used a limited number of times, so Kim Kardashian wasted this N95 mask, a precious resource, to make a sponsored post that sells a quack 'crisis product' while people are dying from not having these masks," another user wrote in a since-deleted tweet, according to Distractify.
Meanwhile, fans leapt to defend the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, claiming that Hucks' kit was not initially created as a response to coronavirus and that Kim's post was uploaded before the mask shortage happened.
Still, the company has been criticised for exorbitant pricing. One tweet claims the true value of the items included in their US$60 kit - rubber gloves, a whistle, glow sticks and water pouches among them - comes to just US$22.25.
Furthermore, some commentators have pointed out that Judy says only one percent of their annual profits go to disaster relief.
Kim does not appear to have publicly commented on the backlash. However, she has posted information on COVID-19 testing centres and has committed to donating US$1 million to fight coronavirus via her shapewear brand, SKIMS.
