X

Kanye West surprises Kim Kardashian with birthday hologram of her late dad

The image of Robert Kardashian calls Kanye West the "most, most, most, most, most genius man in the whole world."

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read
robert-kardashian.png

Kanye West gave wife Kim a memorable birthday gift -- a video featuring a hologram of her late father, Robert Kardashian.

Video screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNET

Kim Kardashian West celebrated her 40th birthday last week with an exclusive trip to a private island with her "closest inner circle." (As she probably should have predicted, the luxury trip didn't go over well with the quarantining public.) But the birthday revelations aren't over. On Thursday, Kardashian West shared a gift from husband Kanye West -- a hologram of her late father, attorney Robert Kardashian.

"For my birthday, Kanye got me the most thoughtful gift of a lifetime," Kardashian West said in a tweet. "A special surprise from heaven. A hologram of my dad. It is so lifelike! We watched it over and over, filled with emotion."

Robert Kardashian, perhaps best known for representing O.J. Simpson in the retired football player's 1995 murder trial, died of cancer in 2003. He was 59, Kim was 23. He's also father to Khloe, Kourtney and Rob Kardashian, all reality stars to various degrees. 

A representative for Kardashian West didn't immediately respond to a request for information about who designed the hologram.

In the hologram shared by Kardashian West, the hologram delivers a birthday message.

"You're 40, and all grown up," the figure says. "You look beautiful, just like when you were a little girl. I watch over you, and your sisters and brother, and the kids, every day."

The figure goes on to share personal memories, including saying that when Kardashian West or someone "makes a big pee fee," he's there. (The meaning of "pee fee" isn't explained.) He briefly dances, to Barry Mann's 1961 doo-wop novelty song Who Put the Bomp, reminiscing about listening to it while driving her to school.

And he praises his daughter for her motherhood, businesses, attending law school and for supporting her Armenian heritage.

As might be expected, considering the image was a gift from Kanye West, the figure praises the musician as "the most, most, most, most, most genius man in the whole world."

The hologram video was viewed more than 500,000 times in less than an hour on Twitter.

Other deceased celebrities have received the hologram treatment, including Tupac Shakur and Jimmy Kimmel, though a 2018 rumor that singer Prince would be resurrected in hologram form for the Super Bowl proved false.

New Movies Coming in 2023 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More

See all photos