BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Trending

'Kylie Jenner, wow, being in a wheelchair is so fun and fashionable!'

  • Published
    2 December 2015
Share page
About sharing
Tweet - this right here is why I don't like Kylie JennerImage source, Twitter
BBC Trending
What's popular and why

Reality TV star Kylie Jenner has angered some disabled people, by posing in a gold wheelchair for a fashion shoot.

The image was one of several showing the able-bodied television personality - famous for the series Keeping up with the Kardashians - in various poses for US magazine Interview, external. But when the pictures were published on Tuesday, and shared on Facebook, many wheelchair users expressed outrage - and used the picture as a way to share their experience of using a wheelchair.

There have been thousands of messages across social networks. The most intense reaction to the image came from people who reported being discriminated against because of their disability.

Tweet - I daren't go out in my chairImage source, Twitter/@amysgotmilk
Tweet - I'm infantilized in my wheelchairImage source, Twitter/Kayla Whaley
line

Follow BBC Trending on Facebook

Join the conversation on this and other stories here, external.

line

Others began posting pictures of models who genuinely need a wheelchair, to point out the wheelchair is often much more than a prop.

Tweet - picture of disabled modelImage source, Twitter/Kayla Whaley

One of the most shared images on social media was from 17-year-old Ophelia Brown. "I wanted to show her that being in a wheelchair is not glamorous or fashionable or fun," she told BBC Trending. Her picture, showing her in her chair next to the the image of Jenner, was widely retweeted.

Tweet - picture of Kylie Jenner next to picture of Ophelia Brown in wheelchairImage source, Twitter/Ophelia Brown

Ophelia, who uses a wheelchair to deal with complex regional pain syndrome, spoke from her home in Ottawa, Canada. "When I first saw the picture, my response was that I didn't think she fully understood what a wheelchair was. A wheelchair is a big part of my life and she seemed to be sitting on it for fun or to look more edgy and cool."

"I felt overwhelmed with annoyance and jealously that she could just get in and out of a wheelchair," she says

Her remark was retweeted thousands of times, but there was a negative backlash too - Ophelia says she was also subjected to so much abuse on Twitter that she even made her profile private for a short while. "One of the worst was someone saying that I was just jealous, and why didn't I just roll myself into a wall," she says.

But she doesn't regret making her comment. "The positive overpowered the negative stuff," she says. "Spreading the message is more important."

Blog by Diana Rusk, external

Next story: People are outing themselves as 'terrorist sympathisers' to make a political point

marchImage source, Getty Images

As the UK Parliament debates the merits of British airstrikes against so-called Islamic State in Syria, Twitter users seized on a comment made by Prime Minister David Cameron. READ MORE

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Israeli security cabinet approves Gaza City takeover as UK's Starmer calls escalation 'wrong'

    • 9425 viewing9.4k viewing
  • Courts service 'covered up' IT bug that caused evidence to go missing

    • Published
      5 hours ago
  • Boy, 4, dies after being hit by bus as he walked out of hospital

    • Published
      19 minutes ago

More to explore

  • Cacio e pepe: Good Food pasta recipe sparks fury in Italy

    pasta in a bowl with cheese and pepper
  • Big Mags: The paedophile-hunting granny who built a heroin empire

    Mags Haney outside her home in the Raploch talking to two police officers. The photo from the mid 1990s shows Haney with short bleached blond hair and big earrings. She is wearing a pink cardigan and and orange t-shirt. A number of locals are standing around watching the scene
  • Faisal Islam: Why has the Bank of England cut rates?

    Andrew Bailey, Bank of England governor, looks straight at the camera. he's wearing glasses and a dark suit.
  • India's immigration raids send ripples through slums and skyscrapers alike

    A woman stands in a slum in Delhi
  • Watch: See where China plans to put its controversial mega-embassy

    A composite image of Damian Grammaticas and the proposed China embassy
  • Weekly quiz: Which baby names took top spot?

    A stock photo shows a baby looking directly at the camera while pouting as they prop their head up on an outdoor chair with bokeh depth of field behind.
  • Who is most likely to challenge Liverpool this season?

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Liverpool celebrate with Premier League trophy
  • Why Trump-Putin talks unlikely to bring rapid end to Ukraine war

    A composite image of Donald Trump on the left and Vladimir Putin on the right. Both men are wearing suits.
  • Summer Essential: Your family’s guide to the summer, delivered to your inbox every Tuesday

    concentric circles ranging from orange to yellow to represent the sun, with a blue sky background
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Boy, 4, dies after being hit by bus as he walked out of hospital

  2. 2

    MP mistakes charity rowers for 'illegal migrants'

  3. 3

    Mushroom murderer tried to kill husband with pasta, cookies and curry, court was told

  4. 4

    Britons booking 'later, closer, shorter' UK breaks

  5. 5

    Courts service 'covered up' IT bug that caused evidence to go missing

  6. 6

    Is Perrier as pure as it claims? The bottled water scandal gripping France

  7. 7

    Cacio e pepe: Good Food pasta recipe sparks fury in Italy

  8. 8

    Big Mags: The paedophile-hunting granny who built a heroin empire

  9. 9

    Suspected people smuggling arrest after BBC probe

  10. 10

    A walk-in fishermen's clinic saved Tom from sepsis - and could transform the NHS

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Destination X

  • Your latest reality TV obsession has landed on iPlayer

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Destination X
  • Rob Brydon welcomes you to Destination X

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Destination X
  • Get on board and play along at home

    • Attribution
      Game
    Destination X Game
  • Where the X are they off to next?

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Destination X
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.