Kim Kardashian has confirmed that she did not pass the California bar exam she sat for in July.
On 8 November, Kim announced via Instagram Stories that she fell short of the passing mark in the July 2025 sitting of the California bar exam. She wrote that although the result was disappointing, she remains committed to completing her journey:
“Six years into this law journey, and I’m still all in until I pass the bar. No shortcuts, no giving up – just more studying and even more determination… Falling short isn’t failure – it’s fuel.”
The reality TV star and businesswoman, who has been studying law since 2018, said in a Vanity Fair interview that she relied heavily on ChatGPT to help her practise for the bar.
According to her, the tool provided incorrect answers that she trusted over her own reasoning, which she now considers a factor in her poor performance.
Kim, 45, described her interactions with the AI as a “toxic friendship,” saying she would often send legal questions to the software for quick answers.
She admitted that after repeatedly failing, she found herself arguing with the tool. “It made me fail my exams… all the time,” she said.
She added that the AI once replied, “That just taught you to trust your instincts. You knew the answer all along.”
She has reportedly kept screenshots of these exchanges and shared them with friends.
The exam, held over two days, includes five essay questions, a performance test and 200 multiple-choice questions. Kim will next be eligible to retake the exam in February 2026.
Her result sparked commentary online. Conservative commentator Link Lauren shared a news report about her result, adding a pointed remark that if US congresswoman and lawyer Jasmine Crockett could pass, “there’s no excuse.” Crockett, a practising attorney before entering Congress, was not involved in Kim’s remarks about AI.
Kim began studying law in 2018 through California’s apprenticeship path, which allows aspiring lawyers to train under a licensed attorney rather than attend law school. She apprenticed under a San-Francisco-based firm and first gained public attention for her legal advocacy in criminal justice cases.
In 2021, she passed the “baby bar”, the First-Year Law Students’ Examination after failing it three times. Passing this exam allowed her to continue the apprenticeship route toward the full bar exam.
Despite setbacks, Kim’s legal interest has led to real-world impact. In 2018, a photo she took beside an ancient Egyptian coffin at the Met Gala inadvertently helped investigators identify the stolen artifact.
The image alerted a source familiar with a smuggling ring, who tipped New York authorities. The Metropolitan Museum of Art later confirmed the coffin had been looted and returned it to Egypt in 2019.
