Kardashians Set New Content Pact With Hulu

The Kardashian clan has relocated to Hulu.

The family that spawned E!’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and its numerous spinoffs has set a deal to create content for Hulu. Details were sparse, but Disney said content featuring members of the Kardashian-Jenner family — Kris, Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie — would begin airing in late 2021. Disney announced the surprise deal as part of Thursday’s Disney Plus Investor Day presentation. The content will run exclusively on Hulu and on Disney’s Star service serving India and other territories.

The Hulu pact comes as the family is preparing to bring “KUWTK” to an end after 20 seasons next year. The show turned the family into reality TV superstars and entrepreneurs with lucrative side businesses. Kris Jenner is the family matriarch, and Kim Kardashian emerged early on as celebrity magnet, which only increased with her 2014 marriage to the outspoken superstar Kanye West. Reruns of “KUWTK” and its spinoffs such as “Kourtney and Kim Take New York” have long run on Hulu as part of the streaming service’s past partnership with NBC Universal.

The family announced in September that the E! show would end after its three-year mega-deal came to a close. Logic dictated that they would be seeking out other opportunities, but in recent seasons, fights among the family members about whether to keep the show going — Kourtney Kardashian has seemed especially to hate it — have provided dramatic fodder for the program itself.

The family has gone through divorces, cheating scandals, problems with drugs and mental illness and, of late, coronavirus — all on camera. The show has also chronicled their successes in the fashion and beauty industry, as well as Kim Kardashian West’s evolution into becoming a criminal justice activist. “KUWTK” has been mostly clear-eyed when showing its leads being embarrassed, as when Kardashian West was shamed into renaming her shapewear line from the unfortunately chosen “Kimono,” which was met with sharp criticism.

Time will tell whether Kardashian West’s much-mocked 40th birthday party — on a private island in October during the coronavirus pandemic — will also be seen on the show, perhaps as the finale. It certainly was a meme.

Whether the new deal with Hulu will be for a docuseries was unclear from the announcement, which stated in full:

“Announced today at Disney’s Investor Day, Kris, Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie will create global content, which will stream exclusively on Hulu in the U.S. and in multiple territories on Star internationally. Expected debut is late 2021 and additional details will be shared when available.”