For about a decade or so now, Kim Kardashian has been an ever-present figure in the spotlight. If she's not appearing on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, you can almost guarantee she's making some other high-profile appearance on a chat show or awards ceremony or - most bizarrely - at the White House. But not everybody is a fan.
Despite having done some arguably brilliant things over the past few years, Kim Kardashian West has also been at the centre of various controversies during her time - and being married to Kanye West is worryingly far down the list. She's been accused of cultural appropriation, has attracted tons of criticism from people who don't agree with her excessive nudity, and, most recently, has come under fire for using the r-word.
The incident happened last week, on October 31st, when the reality TV star posted clips from a Halloween party to her Instagram story.
Kim had gone to the event dressed as Pamela Anderson, and was accompanied by her best friend, Jonathan Cheban, who came as Tommy Lee. The pair looked pretty good in their outfits (as you can see below), but KKW was disappointed that not many people recognised who they were.
"Guys, we are Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee," she said on Instagram. "Nobody knows who we are here! You guys are all too f***ing young. This is so sad."
Shortly after that, she posted this clip, in which she can be heard saying: "Nobody knows who I am... [it's] retarded!"
Understandably, a lot of people had something to say about the matter.
"@KimKardashian using the R word on her IG story from yesterday is disgusting," said one person. "And I really liked her. Watched, followed, bought s**t, spent like 3 grand on her game. My brother is an ANGEL sent from Heaven and if you use [the r-word] generally, you use it ALL THE TIME. Done."
"SO. NOT. COOL! When you have millions of people's attention why not promote inclusivity instead of feeding the hate-exclusivity machine? The "R word" is unacceptable," said another.
And Stephanie Sidley, who posted the original status calling Kim out for her insensitive use of the word, also went on to post other examples of Kim K using mental illness as an insult.
As usual, though, a bunch of people piled on to defend Kardashian, with many of them saying that it wasn't such a big deal.
"It’s a word in common usage and not just as an insult for those who are mentally handicapped. #dumbass that’s an insult. Not everything is offensive," argued one person.
Kim did eventually reach out to TMZ, however, and offered an apology for her actions.
"I want to apologize for what I said in a recent video post that is inappropriate and insensitive to the special needs community," she said. "I try to learn from my mistakes and this is one of those times. Please know that my intention is always pure, and in this case, it was a mistake. I’m sorry."