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Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 6 lookbook has an unexpected new campaign star: Paris Hilton, aka Kim Kardashian West’s former BFF and boss. In the series of images, which hit Instagram in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Paris — spray-tanned and contoured into a creepy Kardashian simulacrum — recreates paparazzi shots of her once-assistant running errands around Calabasas while dressed in Yeezy’s new collection. Truly, you have to turn your head sideways and squint to even realize it’s her.
Anyway, judging by their Instagram captions, both Kim and Paris are thrilled with how the campaign turned out; Kim refers to the hotel heiress as “#ForeverTheOG,” while Paris writes, “So much fun being a #KimClone.” So it makes sense that the internet immediately took its shared enthusiasm and ran with it. According to People, the campaign “[proves] once and for all that their bad blood is a thing of the past,” while the Huffington Post says it’s “further evidence that old rivals are burying the hatchet.”
But I’d like to propose a different scenario here: What if Kim’s decision to cast Paris as a #KimClone is really just elaborate payback for all the times she was forced to dress like Paris in the aughts? Below, a few key shots from 2006 and 2007 to refresh your memory, along with the possible probable, definitely not imaginary conversations that accompanied them at the time.
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Paris: “Fendi’s doing wide belts this season. We should wear some, too.”
Kim: “I... don’t own any wide belts?”
Paris: “Ugh, here.” *grabs the tie closure off one of her bathrobes, hands it to Kim*
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Paris: “Okay, so we’re gonna both wear Newsies hats, wraparound sunnies, and lots of jewelry. That way, people will know how famous we are!”
Kim: *quietly thankful Paris didn’t ask her to wear a vest, too*
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Paris: “The dress code says silver. What do you have that’s silver?”
Kim: “I really look better in go—”
Paris: “Did I ask for your personal preference?!”
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Paris: “So I’ll wear a blue dress and red shoes, and you do a red dress and blue shoes! Fourth of July party, here we come!!!
Kim, quietly to self: “It’s August.”
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Paris: “I got the new Vuitton totes! Here, I ordered you one, too.”
Kim: “Thanks, but seriously, gold, is really more my—”
Paris: “Gold is for winners, Kimberly.”
So, yeah: Revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold. And that’s hot.