Kim Kardashian has revealed that she was hospitalised after developing oesophagitis, a condition affecting the oesophagus that carries a painful connection to her late father, Robert Kardashian.
According to Deadline, Kardashian, 45, discusses the health scare in the upcoming season of The Kardashians. A new trailer for the Hulu series shows her revealing, “I have something called esophagitis.”
A producer then asks whether it is the same illness that killed her father. Robert Kardashian, the prominent attorney, died from oesophageal cancer in 2003 at the age of 59.
The revelation also affects Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner. “It makes me want to cry,” Jenner says in the trailer.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, oesophagitis causes irritation and inflammation of the oesophagus. If left untreated, it can develop into Barrett’s oesophagus, which can increase the risk of oesophageal cancer.
Robert Kardashian’s death has remained a major part of his family’s efforts to raise awareness about oesophageal cancer. In 2019, the Kardashian family helped establish the UCLA Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health in Los Angeles. UCLA marked the centre’s fifth anniversary in 2024, with Kim, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian attending the event.
Speaking at the anniversary event, Kim said some of her friends had been referred to the centre and that its treatment had saved their lives.
“It makes me proud to hear them be so grateful that they found a place that was dedicated to the one thing that would help them,” she said.
Kim also discussed the centre’s significance in a 2025 episode of The Kardashians. “There’s a few things in life that my dad would be really proud of us for and this is definitely one of them,” she said.
“We weren’t able to save his life with this new technology and with the access to these doctors, but now we can help save other people’s lives.”
The centre continues to focus on the diagnosis, treatment, research and education of conditions affecting the oesophagus.
