As a 40th birthday present, Kim Kardashian’s then-husband Kanye West gifted her “a special surprise from heaven” which was a hologram message from her late father Rob Kardashian Snr.
Kardashian rose to fame in 1995 as one of OJ Simpson’s defense attorneys. But he was also known as the father to reality stars Kourtney, Kimberly, Khloé, and son Robert Kardashian Jnr.
Robert Kardashian Snr was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003. He tragically passed away just two months later, at age 59. Today, September 30, 2022, marks 19 years since Kardashian’s tragic death.
Let’s take a look at one of West’s most touching presents he gave Kim. She deemed it was the “gift of a lifetime.”
Kanye West once bought Kim a hologram of her late father Rob Kardashian Snr
Kim Kardashian posted a recording of her father Rob’s hologram on her social media in 2020. She wrote in the caption: “For my birthday, Kanye got me the most thoughtful gift of a lifetime.”
She described the hologram as feeling “so lifelike” and that it left her “filled with emotion.”
In the video, the hologram, which shows an incredible digital likeness to her father, it can be heard sending birthday wishes.
The program said: “Happy birthday Kimberly. Look at you, you’re 40 and all grown up. You look beautiful, just like when you were a little girl. I watch over you and your sisters and brothers and the kids every day.”
He then reminisces on some memories they share together. This included driving Kim to school in his “little Mercedes” while listening to the Barry Mann track Who Put The Bomp together. The hologram even does a dance at this part, trying to embody Rob Kardashian Snr.
He goes on to say: “I am so proud of the woman that you’ve become Kimberly and all that you’ve accomplished. All of your hard work and all of the businesses you have built are incredible.”
Robert Snr who was an accomplished lawyer commended her decision to pursue a law degree “and carry on my legacy”. He encouraged her pursuit of becoming a lawyer, stating: “It’s a long and a hard road, but it’s worth it. And I am with you every step of the way.”
‘Marrying the most genius man in the whole world’
Interestingly, the hologram also said, “You married the most, most, most, most, most genius man in the whole world, Kanye West”. Suggesting that her ex-husband had a say in the hologram’s script.
However, Kardashian then goes on to tell his daughter: “The most beautiful thing that I have witnessed is watching you grow your family… You are the most, most, most, most amazing mother to your four beautiful children, and they are perfect.”
In an encouraging final message, Kardashian’s hologram says: “Keep doing what you’re doing, Kimberley. You are a beautiful soul. Know that I am very proud of you, and I’m always with you. I have built a firewall around our family.”
How was the lifelike hologram created?
Kim’s birthday hologram of her father was created by a company called Kaleida. It specializes in “Hollywood blockbusters and major theatrical shows”. The company uses “a combination of performance, motion tracking, SFX, VFX, and DeepFake technologies to resurrect pop singers, heads of state and historical figures”.
In an interview with Dazed, a creator of the hologram explained that they made it sound like Robert Kardashian’s real voice by using a vocal AI and tweaking audio recordings of him. These then get fed in to manipulate the voice and get the accent “spot on.”
On their website, it reveals the hologram performance took place in Tahiti. This is where Kim is thought to have celebrated her birthday on a private island with her close friends and family.
Kim Kardashian’s 40th birthday trip
Kardashian was met with widespread criticism for flying 50 people out to an island in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Kim later took to Twitter to hit back at the comments. She explained she’d asked all guests to quarantine before the trip. The reality star also revealed that everyone had been tested for COVID prior to the vacation, as per Grazia.
During an interview on Andy Cohen’s Sirius XM show Radio Andy, Kris Jenner explained how seeing her ex-husband digitally resurrected via hologram was a surreal experience.
“You know, we didn’t really know what was happening because it was such a small group of Kim’s inner circle, just our family and a few friends,” she explained.
“It started and we just all started to cry.”
She continued, “It was so, you know, intense, but I must have watched it 20 times.”
Jenner dubbed it “one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen. It was really wild.”
The momager revealed the room was “very quiet” and “all we could hear was each other crying. It was really emotional. The first thing we wanted to do was see it again, and again, and again. It was very special.”
After the family had viewed the gift, the rest of Kim’s party was invited to watch the hologram. Whilst Kris revealed it was all too much for her as she “literally had to go back to my room and just sit there because I needed to digest that. It was intense, and it was a beautiful, beautiful moment. So, I just wanted to kind of enjoy that.”
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