Even 13 Years Later, Kourtney Kardashian Barker Can’t Help But Troll Her Sister Kim Kardashian Over That Diamond Earrings Moment

Mom Kris Jenner jumped in on the fun, too.

Kourtney Kardashian and Kim Kardashian
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Kourtney Kardashian Barker wears many hats: Wife. Mom. Poosh and Lemme founder. Reality star. Kim Kardashian troll.

Kourtney stepped away from her family’s Turks and Caicos vacation to hop on Instagram and post a joke aimed at younger sister Kim, specifically a moment from season six of their former reality show, E!’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians. (We’ll get to the old school moment in a second.) On Instagram yesterday, Kourtney captioned her post “My diamond earring came off in the ocean and it’s gone,” and, alongside the caption, Kourtney posted a photo of her smiling as she swam on the beach. In another photo, she placed her hands on her ears, a worried look on her face, as if pretending to check for an earring. 

It all harkens back to one of the most memorable scenes from KUWTK, when Kim had nothing short of a meltdown while vacationing with her family in French Polynesia. When her then-boyfriend (and ill-fated future husband) Kris Humphries tossed her into the ocean, she lost a $75,000 diamond earring.

Kim Kardashian

We should have known it wasn't going to work right...about...now.

(Image credit: KUWTK on E!)

“My earring’s gone!” Kim exclaimed in the 2011 episode. “My diamond earring came off in the ocean!” As Kim began to cry, Kourtney delivered a suckerpunch line that on its own is iconic: “Kim, there’s people that are dying,” Kourtney said in response to her sister. (Ultimately, sister Kylie Jenner saved the day and miraculously found it.)

Kim Kardashian

Kim infamously realizing she's missing a $75K diamond earring.

(Image credit: KUWTK on E!)

Kourtney’s apparently not over this moment, but Kim certainly is. “This gets so old,” she said in a November 2023 GQ video where she responded to fan questions on social media. “Any time I’m in water, people will ask me if I found my diamond earring in the ocean. I don’t know if I showed this on our show, but Kylie found the earring. So, she dove in the ocean, put on goggles, found it, and then she went back and found the back of it. That’s how clear the water is in Bora Bora. So, guys, the earring has been found. It was found in 2010. If anyone’s going to Bora Bora searching for gold and diamonds, [it’s] not there.”

Kim Kardashian

No way this doesn't make everyone's top 10 list of most iconic "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" moments.

(Image credit: KUWTK on E!)

Even mom Kris Jenner got in on the joke after Kourtney’s post yesterday, mimicking her oldest daughter and commenting, pretty epically, “Kourtney, there are people that are dying…”

Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.