Kylie Jenner is used to her parties making headlines — but not like this. The 21-year-old reality TV star and beauty entrepreneur hosted her friend Anastasia Karanikolaou’s 22nd birthday at her home in Hidden Hills, Los Angeles, CA, but her choice of theme has not gone down well.
Kylie decided to theme the party around Hulu show The Handmaid’s Tale, which made many people think she missed the point.
The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a bleak dystopian future where most women have been left infertile, and the few remaining fertile women are forced to become submissive Handmaids, who are made to have babies with a ruling class of men known as Commanders. Those who try to resist are taken away by secret police called the Eyes. Kylie supplied her guests with the red robes and white bonnets the Handmaids are forced to wear to identify themselves as part of a subservient class. Er, happy birthday?
Here’s Kylie and party guest Sofia Richie showing off their costumes:
Given the intense themes, the show is not exactly obvious party material.
Kylie and Anastasia (who is known as Stassie) didn’t stop at the costumes. In a series of Snapchats and Instagram Stories, we see Kylie’s home decorated to fit her theme, including red drapes, place settings made up of letters like those seen in the show, and servers dressed as characters known as Marthas, who are infertile women who work as cooks and servants. According to People, Kylie also served cocktails with themed names like Praise Be Vodka and Under His Eye Martini.
Someone on Twitter helpfully curated the theme in all its ghoulishness:
It’s 2019 and Kylie Jenner is hosting a “Handmaid’s Tale” themed birthday party...SIS... pic.twitter.com/hNUTDDyTp4
— cayley (@cayleyasmith) June 9, 2019
Kylie greeted her guests with the phrase “Praise be,” a line from the show that’s usually said sarcastically by those Handmaids who are trying to resist their position. But Kylie seems to have missed that detail:
People are struggling to understand how this serious show screams “party.”
I wanna know what made kylie jenner think that having a handmaid’s tale themed party would sound like a fun thing to do. The show is depressing and scary as hell. How do you go from that to a party?
— attaf (@outsideofu) June 10, 2019
It’s not exactly happy…
It’s more like a nightmare than a good night out.
People are mostly upset because they think Kylie missed the show’s message about what can happen when women are stripped of their reproductive rights.
Especially since she comes from a position of privilege.
It’s starting to seem like she hasn’t actually watched this show.
I’m just gunna go ahead and assume that Kylie Jenner has never seen an episode of #HandmaidsTale 🤦🏽♀️
— Lauren (@elemkay13) June 10, 2019
The timing of the party is particularly poor, given that many states have recently passed extremely restrictive abortion bans that have drawn criticisms from women’s rights groups.
People have been dressing up as Handmaids to protest the bans, using the symbolism as a warning.
Which explains why some are so annoyed at seeing the costume used in this frivolous way:
When people are using the Handmaid's Tale outfits to demonstrate/protest about how people in society are being oppressed and having their rights taken away, a Jenner is using it as a fun and sexy party theme. GROSS.@HandmaidsOnHulu #HandmaidsTale #kyliejenner pic.twitter.com/vF9BNHKgwo
— uptownerd.bsky.social 🍉 (@uptownerd) June 10, 2019
Despite the backlash, many people weren’t all that surprised that Kylie would find this fun.
In fact, this sounds like it belongs in the book the show is based on, which was written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood:
Kylie Jenner is having a Handmaid's Tale birthday party which sounds exactly like a detail Margaret Atwood would add in an updated edition of the book.
— Ken Schultz (@kenschultz_) June 10, 2019
As usual, Twitter has thoughts on how Kylie could better spend her money.
Some offered more practical suggestions, if she’s looking to make amends.
I don't know how much Kylie Jenner spent on her Handmaid's Tale-themed party, but I hope she matches it with a donation to organizations fighting to protect women's reproductive rights.
— Kay Doubleu (@kriscali) June 10, 2019
Whether Kylie takes that advice or decides to apologize remains to be seen — but goodness knows what theme she’ll pick for her own birthday party in August…
