Kim Kardashian’s Paper Magazine cover (November 2014) — glossy nude balancing champagne glass on butt — “broke the internet” (15.9M views in 48 hours, crashed site). Photographer Jean-Paul Goude recreated his 1976 “Champagne Incident” photo (originally featuring Black model Carolina Beaumont). Accusations of cultural appropriation (poses historically coded to hypersexualize Black women). Kim defended as art homage. Phrase “break the internet” became marketing cliché. Solidified Kim as sex symbol transcending reality TV, presaged her pivot to business empire (SKIMS, law career). Represented peak Kardashian cultural dominance.
BreakTheInternet
Twitter 2014-11 entertainment peaked
Updated 2026-02-16
Early 2010s Massive scale 1.5 billion+ lifetime posts
First documented in November 2014 on Twitter. Reached peak activity at an earlier point and has since moderated to lower-frequency use.
Also known as: KimKPaperMagazineKimKButt
Explore #BreakTheInternet
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