What happened?
LOS ANGELES, USA — Reality star and business mogul Kim Kardashian has revealed that she failed the California Bar Exam, seven years after beginning her law studies.
The 45-year-old SKIMS founder, who graduated from her law program in May 2025 after six years, shared the disappointing news on Instagram Saturday, November 8 — but made it clear she has no plans to quit.
“Well… I’m not a lawyer yet, I just play a very well-dressed one on TV,” Kardashian wrote, referencing her new legal drama All’s Fair.
“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.”
A near miss, not a failure
Kardashian said she came “so close” to passing this time, calling the setback “fuel” for her next attempt.
“Falling short isn’t failure — it’s fuel,” she wrote. “I was so close to passing the exam and that only motivates me even more. Let’s go!”
Kardashian first took the California Bar Exam in July 2025, one of the toughest in the United States. The State Bar of California says only about 53% of test-takers passed the July 2024 exam — a reminder of just how competitive the process can be.
The next opportunities to retake the exam will be in February and July 2026, with results expected in May and November.
How Kim got here
Kardashian began her legal studies in 2018, inspired by her late father, Robert Kardashian Sr., the attorney who famously defended O.J. Simpson in the 1995 murder trial.
Unlike most aspiring lawyers, Kim chose an apprenticeship path — studying under a San Francisco law firm instead of attending law school. Over the years, she worked with attorneys Van Jones and Jessica Jackson through a four-year program.
She passed the “baby bar” exam — California’s First-Year Law Students’ Exam — in December 2021 after three failed attempts, then cleared the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) in March 2025, a key step before the full bar.
In May, she proudly announced on Instagram:
“I finally graduated law school after six years!!!”
Balancing TV and textbooks
While her real-life law career is still in progress, Kardashian plays a fictional attorney in Ryan Murphy’s new legal drama “All’s Fair,” starring alongside Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash, and Teyana Taylor.
The show follows an all-female law firm — a role Kim says helped her appreciate the real grind of becoming a lawyer.
“Maybe in 10 years, I’ll give up being Kim K. and be a trial lawyer,” she joked during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show last month. “That’s what I really want.”
Her law ambitions
Kim’s passion for justice reform began in 2018, when she successfully lobbied then-President Donald Trump to grant clemency to Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense.
That advocacy work sparked her mission to pursue criminal justice reform — a cause she continues to support through her studies and legal training.
What’s next for Kim?
Although she didn’t pass the bar this time, Kardashian remains determined. With the next exam scheduled for February 2026, she plans to keep studying and take the test again.
For now, she’s embracing the lessons learned — on and off screen.
“Falling short isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of the next chapter,” she said.
