Megyn Kelly is criticizing Kim Kardashian and Kanye West over the increasingly public career of their 13-year-old daughter North West, arguing that the former couple is moving too quickly as North releases music, performs live and develops an image of her own.
Kelly addressed North during the August 25 episode of The Megyn Kelly Show with Dr. Drew Pinsky, focusing on her new Dazed cover, blue hair, piercings and recent music video. According to TMZ, Kelly accused Kardashian and West of “rushing” to turn their daughter into a star without adequately considering the potential downside of growing up in public.
North’s music career has accelerated considerably in 2026. She released the six-track debut EP N0rth4evr in May, performed her first solo festival set in June and released a music video for “Aishite” in August. Her fall Dazed cover followed, accompanied by an interview about music, fashion and what she wants to do next.
Kelly’s criticism arrives as North herself is insisting that starting young is her choice, while Kardashian has previously defended her daughter’s self-expression and acknowledged making parenting decisions she later reconsidered.
Kelly Says North Is Being ‘Rushed’ Toward Stardom
Kelly compared North’s life with that of her own son Thatcher, who is close to the same age, before questioning how quickly North has been moved into professional entertainment. “My son is riding his bike, playing tennis, and playing something called bucket golf with his buddies in the backyard,” Kelly said in the show’s coverage of the discussion.
She then contrasted that with North’s increasingly visible career. “This girl…is launching an album, she’s going to be performing concerts, and they are rushing to try to make her a star,” Kelly said, arguing that there did not appear to be enough reflection on “the significant downside of putting your child on camera for her childhood.”
Technically, North released a six-song EP rather than a full-length album. Her first planned co-headlining tour with rapper Molly Santana was also canceled shortly before its scheduled August 5 launch, although North has already performed at major live events. She joined Santana onstage at Rolling Loud in May and performed her first solo festival set at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash in June, where both Kardashian and West publicly supported her appearance.
Some of the ‘Dazed’ Cover Piercings Were Part of the Styling
The Dazed feature describes North as wearing a mixture of real and fake piercings and explicitly credits the stylist’s “fake face piercings” in the fashion notes for the shoot. North’s blue hair, meanwhile, has become a recurring part of her personal style and is inspired by virtual pop idol Hatsune Miku.
The profile also gives additional context about Kardashian’s involvement. Dazed reported that Kardashian stayed throughout the shoot and described her as “present and protective.”
North Says Starting Her Career Later Would Have Been Bad Advice
North presented a very different view of her trajectory in the same Dazed interview. Asked for the worst advice she has ever received, she answered, “To start my career later. It’s like, nah, this is my hobby, this is what I like to do, this is what I wanna do with my life,” North said.
She also said she wishes she had begun performing sooner because she had already felt ready. Her ideal day, she explained, involves rehearsal followed by time in the studio, or performing a major show.
North subsequently released the “Aishite” music video in August and told Dazed that the song was particularly important to her because she considered it “powerful.”
Kelly and Dr. Drew Questioned the Themes of ‘Aishite’
Part of Kelly and Dr. Drew’s concern centered on the emotional tone of North’s music. “Aishite” deals lyrically with themes including wanting love, mistrust and betrayal. Pinsky questioned what those themes might indicate if they reflected North’s actual emotional state.
Song lyrics can be fictionalized, exaggerated, collaborative or written from perspectives that do not correspond directly to an artist’s personal circumstances. Some of Pinsky’s other comments also moved into speculation about North’s family environment and possible future health risks.
North, for her part, described the song in much simpler creative terms. “It’s just such a powerful song,” she told Dazed. “It’s just my favorite, honestly.”
North Says There Are Still Things She Is ‘Not Allowed’ to Do
The Dazed interview complicates the idea that North has unrestricted control over every aspect of her image. Asked why she likes piercings, North said, “They just make you your full self.”
She then revealed one modification she wants but cannot currently have. “I really want to get my bridge pierced, but I’m not allowed,” she said.
She made a similar distinction when discussing the kinds of choices she is interested in making as a teenager. “Everyone’s in love with boys, vaping and doing all kinds of bad stuff,” North told the magazine. “All I want is blue hair and piercings.”
Kim Kardashian Has Asked Critics for ‘Grace’ Before
Kardashian has already confronted criticism over North’s appearance and the amount of freedom she gives her eldest child. During an October 2025 appearance on Call Her Daddy, Kardashian acknowledged that some choices have looked different to her in hindsight.
“I’m like, okay, we’re never wearing that again,” she said of moments when she later decided an outfit had been a mistake. “Unfortunately, we made that mistake in front of the whole world.”
Kardashian asked for “a little bit of grace,” explaining that she was learning as a parent while those decisions were being scrutinized publicly.
At the same time, she defended North’s confidence and creative interests, saying her daughter had grown up around fashion and beauty professionals and had developed a distinctive style of her own. “She has a really unique style,” Kardashian said in a separate 2025 interview. “She just loves what she loves.”
Kardashian has also pushed back against the perception that allowing North creative freedom means there are no rules at home, saying earlier this year that her daughter has “a lot” of boundaries despite what people may assume from social media.