Travis Barker is shutting down a “ridiculous” online theory about the feud between his wife Kourtney and her sister Kim Kardashian — a theory that placed the Blink-182 drummer at the center of an awkward family love triangle.
“Stop it,” he said in a For Real column published Sunday.
Barker, 47, entered the discussion months after the sisters’ tête-à-tête went viral. In a clip from a summer episode of Hulu’s “The Kardashians,” Kourtney accused Kim of “copying” her Italian wedding for a partnership with design house Dolce & Gabbana. Kim, in turn, accused Kourtney of stealing her entire wedding country … and wedding singer. Natch.
Refusing to watch the heated exchange from the sidelines, invested fans took it upon themselves to uncover what they believed to be true: that Barker’s long-ago attraction to Kim was really at the heart of the jealous dispute. And they had literary evidence to support their theory in the form of Barker’s 2015 memoir, “Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums.”
On TikTok, fans brought up passages from his book in which he discussed his affinity for Kim. He and the beauty mogul met in 2006, when he was dating Paris Hilton. Kim was working as the hotel heiress’ closet organizer at the time.
Even though he was linked to Hilton, he wrote that he “kept on secretly checking out Kim” and told a friend, “I don’t care if she’s the closet girl, she’s f— hot.”
However, the musician provided context about the theory, which had taken the ick level of the sisters’ escalating drama to new heights.
“You give people a little information and they think they’ve solved the mystery of ‘This is why they’re fighting.’ It’s just so ridiculous,” he told The Times’ Amy Kaufman.
Barker admitted that, yes, while he and Kim “used to talk,” nothing untoward came of it.
The musician has long maintained that they never got physical, although his ex-wife Shanna Moakler has disputed that, claiming that she caught them having an affair. He also denied that Kourtney is salty about his relationship with Kim. (“Not Kourtney” group chat aside.)
“It’s like, ‘Kourtney’s fans are worried about Travis. He’s a womanizer.’ Stop it,” Barker said.
“I obviously shared all that stuff because I wanted to move past it. It was therapeutic for me. … That’s her sister. She knows we used to talk. Nothing bad was going on.”
Kourtney is pregnant with her and Barker’s first child together — her fourth, total, and his third. The Poosh founder is reportedly on bed rest (as noted in an Instagram from Kim earlier this week) after being hospitalized in early September. She later revealed that she underwent an “urgent fetal surgery” required to save the baby’s life.
Barker also praised his wife and opened up to Kaufman about how she helped him deescalate his fear of flying, which was exacerbated by a 2008 plane crash that killed two members of his entourage.
“I think the power of love really helped me,” he said. “Kourt made it so I fly, my kids fly now. She healed us.”
