Though Caitlyn Jenner’s new name and image were revealed to the world on Monday, it still remains a mystery how much Kris Jenner really knew about her ex’s – formerly known as Bruce – path to transition in the weeks, months and even years leading up to Caitlyn’s debut.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kris maintains that their relationship ended abruptly when her former husband “just decided, ‘I’m done.’ ”
Knowing what she knows now, Kris tells the magazine the way Caitlyn approached their separation and subsequent divorce felt like “the most passive-aggressive thing I think I’ve ever experienced.”
She asks rhetorically, “Why would you want to be married and have kids if this is what you wanted since you were a little boy? Why would you not explain this all to me?”
However, Kris, 59, does concede she wasn’t completely in the dark.
“When I met Bruce, he told me that he had done hormones back in the early ’80s,” she says. “This was a conversation that took place in the early ’90s. So, what he was telling me happened a decade earlier, and he never really explained it.”
See The Life of Caitlyn Jenner
At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Bruce Jenner won the gold medal in the decathlon, setting the world record at 8,616 points.Getty ImagesJenner became a national hero following his Olympic win and was later inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1986.Tony Duffy—Getty ImagesJenner became an NBC Sportscaster in the late 1970s following his Olympic performance in Montreal.NBC/Getty ImagesJenner married actress Linda Thompson, above, on Jan. 5, 1981, following his divorce with Chrystie Crownover.Getty ImagesJenner was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. In October of 1985, he received the Outstanding Learning Disabled Achiever Award from then-First Lady Nancy Reagan alongside stars such as Cher and Tom Cruise.Getty ImagesJenner was a successful race car driver in the 1980s, though in a 2013 interview he said, "I was a lot more badass runner than I was a driver.”Ann Clifford—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesIn 1991, Jenner married Kris Jenner, previously Kris Kardashian, just one month after she finalized her divorce from Robert Kardashian. The two had dated for only five months.Maureen Donaldson—Getty ImagesTheir marriage merged two already large families, evident here in this 1991 portrait.Donaldson Collection/Getty ImagesAfter his sports career, Jenner, seen here at a celebrity golf event in 1993, had a number of small acting jobs and television appearances.Stephen Dunn—Getty ImagesThe family poses at an event in 1995, the year Jenner and Kris welcomed the first of their two children together, Kendall Jenner.Ron Galella—WireImageKylie Jenner was born two years later in 1997. The girls can be seen here on the red carpet in 2000, long before they covered magazines and appeared on TIME's Most Influential Teens list.Scott Nelson—AFP/Getty ImagesJenner, seen here in 2005, would re-enter the spotlight thanks to Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which first premiered in 2007.Steve Granitz—WireImageJenner spoofed his reality-star fame with a commercial for Tropicana Juicy Rewards in 2010.APJenner and Kris, here at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2011, announced their separation in 2013. She filed for divorce the following year.Kevin Winter—Getty ImagesJenner poses with a box of Wheaties in 2012. He appeared on the front of the box first in 1977 after his Olympic gold-medal win, then in 2012 when Wheaties rolled out a retro series.Noel Vasquez—Getty ImagesJenner appears with two of his sons, TV personality Brody Jenner and musician Brandon Jenner, who records with his wife as Brandon & Leah, at an April 2013 release party.Chelsea Lauren—WireImageJenner walks with step-daughter Kim Kardashian in October of 2014 — about five months after rapper Kanye West became his son-in-law.Bauer-Griffin—GC ImagesCaitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, appeared as a woman for the first time on the cover of Vanity Fair's June 2015 issue, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.Annie Leibovitz—Vanity FairCaitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award onstage during The 2015 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 15, 2015 in Los Angeles.Kevin Winter—Getty Images
For her part, Caitlyn, 65, contends that Kris was fully aware of the treatments and their side effects, including breast growth. Jenner says she was a “good solid B cup” when they met, while Kris brushes it off as nothing more than “a little bit of a man boob situation.”
In Kris’ mind, “there wasn’t a gender issue. Nobody mentioned a gender issue,” she tells the magazine.
According to Caitlyn, though, Kris witnessed her wearing women’s clothing while she was still living as Bruce; together, she says, they even established a rule that Bruce could only cross-dress when he was traveling alone and away from the family’s house.
Kris denies this entirely, saying her ex never cross-dressed in front of her, only that “somebody mentioned that at one point in his life he liked to dress up.”
