Kim Kardashian Reveals the Person Behind Nori’s Black Book Instagram Page
Written by SOURCE on May 14, 2021
The anonymous mastermind behind the Nori’s Black Book Instagram page has finally come forward. After nearly eight(!) years of running the infamous North West parody account, Natalie Franklin has given up her anonymity and revealed her identity during the latest episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which aired on May 13. As a huge fan of the show, Franklin decided to create social media pages on Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter where she pretended to be posting photos and videos about the famous family from the perspective of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s firstborn, North.
So much has happened since KUWTK premiered on E! in October 2007. The family transformed pop culture, and now the show is coming to an end after 20 seasons. The Kardashian clan has influenced so much in the past 14 years, including how people dress, what makeup people use, how we view celebrities, and how we use social media. As a fan of the show and the family, Franklin recognized their impact and decided to join in on the fun by criticizing them and poking fun at them in a way that was humorous without being cruel. Her witty and snarky captions to the videos and photos the family shared took off, making her one of the most successful Kardashian fan accounts on the Internet. So much so that the whole family took notice. After years of liking and commenting on her posts, Kim and sister Khloé Kardashian decided that they needed to uncover the brain behind the genius page.
In the episode, they shared that they thought the posts were so clever, so precise, and spot-on that they felt it had to be someone in their circle. The sisters’ hairstylist Jen Atkin, publicist Tracy Romulus, and family friend Stephanie Shepherd were among the suspects—but they were wrong. They finally got a hold of Franklin, and she agreed to meet up with them, and their encounter was filmed for the show. The sisters were just as captivated by Franklin’s posts as her more than 700,000 Instagram followers are. Nori’s Black Book aimed to give us a glimpse into what being Kim and Kanye’s kid would be like, and while the account started when North was just a baby, Franklin was able to capture the child’s personality so well—even before she had one. Over the years, fans have seen small peeks into what the real North is now like at 7-years-old, and her personality seems to be so in line with the one Franklin has created online. Now that the world knows who is running Nori’s Black Book, Complex chatted with Franklin and she gave us an insight into what it feels like to give up her anonymity, what it was like to meet the famous sisters, FaceTiming North, and what the show coming to an end means for her and her account.
How are you feeling knowing that people are about to see who you are?
I’m super nervous, I hope I don’t ruin the account for anyone. I hope people can still enjoy it and the weird way my mind works. It’s nerve-racking, because I’ve had the account going, we’re going on the eighth year, and I’ve just enjoyed being anonymous and kind of living my life or whatever. So I’m aware that that might change slightly, but I’m excited overall. It’s a very nerve-racking, exciting type of situation.
The show is coming to an end, so it feels like a good time to reveal who you are to the public. How do you feel about the show ending?
I was very saddened by it. It’s one of those shows you just didn’t think was going to end. It’s like The Simpsons or Saturday Night Live, Jeopardy. It’s like one of the staples that have become something we expect to be on TV and to be new. It’s like my life flashed before my eyes because I grew up with the show. When they’re in their 20s, I was in my 20s. It’s almost like a coming-of-age reality show, and we’ve seen them grow from single life to married life to mom. So it was rough to hear they’re ending. I’m more used to it now, but I was not that happy about it.
Do you plan on continuing the page after the show ends?
I do want to continue the page for as long as I can until North gets of age, and she’s like, “Girl, you’ve got to stop. I’m going to do my own thing now.” I feel like the family has so much, I mean, they are, literally, the cheat code of all media. So they’ll always be written about, and then they’re really good at sharing content on their own social media. So, I definitely don’t think I’ll have a shortage of content. But the show definitely would help give more to my content, but I don’t think it’s a problem. I don’t think the Kardashians are going to go anywhere anytime soon.
I know you talked about it a little bit on the episode, but how did you start the page?
I was a huge fan of Suri’s Burn Book, which is an old blog on Tumblr, which was about Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s daughter. She would be sassy and she would talk about other kids in Hollywood. And I would read it almost on a daily. I would say to myself like, “Oh, I wish I would have thought of something like this. This is so crazy. I love it.” And then a few years later, North was born, and I’m obviously a big Kanye and Kim fan, so I was following that. They had just come out with her Babies R Us clothing line [Kardashian Kids], and they put North in it, and they took a picture of her from the waist down on Instagram. Me and a friend of mine were talking, and I said, “Oh my God, North is pissed she’s wearing Babies R Us. She should be in Prada, Chanel, Balenciaga. What is this?”
I finished that sentence and a light bulb went off. I’m like, “Oh my God, this can be my version of Suri’s Burn Book, but I’ll call it Nori’s Black Book.” Because at the time, they were calling her Nori and all she wore was black. I actually just started as a hobby. I put it on Tumblr, and I was like, “If I get 100 followers, that’s dope, but I’m just kind of like playing around.” Then it just actually got super popular, which was very surprising for me.
So obviously, you’re a big fan of the show and the family, but you have been able to capture exactly who we are seeing North is now, and that’s exactly who your voice is on Instagram. How were you able to do it?
I mean, it’s a little bit of magic, I have to say, because I don’t have control of it, right? But I literally just think about Kanye, I think about Kim and it’s a little bit of myself, and I just turn the stove up on it. And I always tell people, North is not my child, obviously, but there’s a part of me that feels like I created this little girl. It’s a weird affection I have for her like she would be my child, if that makes sense. A kid I dreamed up essentially exists. I guess that’s the best way I can say it. If you dreamed of a kid or dreamed of a person and then you met them one day, you’d be like, “Holy crap, did I create you?” So it was like that kind of vibe. I think I have the skill, I speak Kardashian very, very well because I watched the show. But I also listen to interviews, so I can capture their tone very well. And I put that in North. So that lends itself to accuracy, I think.
Not only with North, but you also capture her siblings and then her cousins and her family members so well…
And that’s a part of it too. I take the audience, the majority’s thoughts, and what they think about each member, and I kind of make North, again, turn it up. Like, oh, you don’t think Kourtney works? Well, North really doesn’t think Kourtney works. She is just going to take everyone’s opinion and make it satire and turn it up even more. And I think that’s just the beauty of her.
And it’s so funny, because when I wrote her being that way, and I remember, I would say to myself, “I really hope she doesn’t come out one day, just like this really nice smiley kid, because that’s going to fuck my shit up. If she’s actually this American sweetheart, it’s good to fuck my shit up.” But luckily, she’s like the total opposite, which I love even more. Even when I met her on FaceTime and the fact she had no time for me, it touched my heart.
She didn’t even look up, not once. I was like, that is definitely North.
Not once, girl. It was like, “What girl? Who? What are you bothering me in the middle of the day for? I’m eating ice cream.” So I was just like, I love this, no time for me. And I couldn’t ask for anything more. I really wish she would have hung up on us. Like, girl, click. When she’s older and she can [understand] it, I think she’ll appreciate it more. And might be the tiniest bit more interested in me, just a little bit more. But that would be dope to meet her as a teenager, and she’d be like, “Oh, I get it now.” That would be cool. Or like when I met with Khloé and Kim, we joked about North having her 21st birthday at TAO. I was like, “Yes, please, let me come. I’d love to do North’s birthday at TAO when she turns 21.” I’ll be damn near 50 but in that thing.
Even with Saint and North’s relationship, it’s exactly how you have been describing it for years. And we didn’t know that, but then somehow you predicted it.
I didn’t know that either. And I’m an only child. So I was kind of pulling from myself, like how would I feel if I had to share all I have with a sibling? I’m not here for it, so, North, you’re going to not be here for it. Reign [Disick], that’s another one. I was just making up stuff and then boom, Reign is this ball of energy that is just a wild child. Thank God that worked out.
How was meeting Khloé and Kim? I’m sure you were a little nervous about how they were going to react to you.
I was hella nervous. I was just very nervous. They’re very, very nice, and it helped me relax super quickly. They’re super relatable, super funny. It was funny, because when we were leaving, Khloé was like, “Oh, what did you think was going to happen today?” And I was like, “I don’t know.” And then she was like, “We were going to throw a drink in your face?” I’m like, “I would have loved that.” I’m that type of person, I was like, “Yes, throw that drink in my face.” That would have been hilarious. But it was a very positive experience. Even the crew. This episode that just aired about how the crew is so nice, and they’re such a family, it’s really true. That crew is super, super nice. Everyone made my experience positive and relaxing, so I couldn’t ask for a better time.
In terms of your career goals, do you see yourself as a writer?
I do now that I’ve had North for so long. You start something just kind of messing around or as a hobby, and then you’re like, “Oh, wait, I’m actually really good at this.” I used to write a lot as a kid, just little stories for fun, not thinking anything of it. I’m an only child and that’s how I entertained myself. Now that I’ve had success with Nori’s Black Book and people actually like my writing, I’m definitely like, “I can parlay this into a career.” I’d love to write professionally. Kim really encouraged me, like, “You probably should get a manager. Are you going to keep writing?”
The first thing I thought about when I was watching the episode was that you should definitely do social media for the Kardashians.
I would love to. I would keep them out of a lot of trouble, too. (laughs)
How has this changed your life? I’m sure that, even though people didn’t know you, it has changed your life in some way.
It has, it’s definitely given me more confidence as a writer, for sure. It definitely made me realize that anything is possible. Did I ever think that I’d be on Keeping Up With the Kardashians? No, that’s not a show people aspire to be on. No lie, I didn’t even start the account thinking Kim or any of them would even see it. If you notice, I don’t tag. I never tag any of them. I rarely, if ever, use hashtags. So it’s just so amazing that this path has led me down to this destination. So it definitely has shown me anything is possible. Anything you want, you can get it. So now I have this whole new lease on life. Like I can do this. I can do that. Why not? So I think it’s definitely given me this great confidence and this great outlook.
I used to see them liking your posts all the time. Now that you have their support because they know who you are, does that change things for you? Knowing that they have your back, and they don’t feel offended by the content?
It definitely does because I second guess a lot of stuff. I’m a human. I know they’re human. So I’m like, man, I don’t know if they’ll understand the tone. But now that I’ve met them and talked to them, they’re like, “Yeah, we get it. We get it. It’s funny.” Khloé even told me in our meeting, “Please don’t change now that you’ve met us. Please keep doing your thing.” And I’m thinking, “Oh, bitch, it’s going to get worse. Now that I’ve met you. It’s actually going to get worse. (laughs) This is so great that you’re cool with this.” That helps to know that they get it, and they have a great sense of humor and the tone is not lost on them. So it definitely helps that I have their support. People can stop tripping because sometimes, I’m sure you see in the comments, it’s like, “This is rude!” Don’t read too much into this, we’re just having a good time with comedy. They’re fine with it, you should be fine with it too…I love that they understand that you can’t take yourself too seriously.
Where do you think you’re going to go from here, now that the world knows who you are?
That’s a good question. I’m just trying to ride the wave and go with the flow, see where it takes me, but I definitely hope that I can do more writing, books maybe, even TV shows. I would love to turn Nori’s Black Book into maybe an animated series. I’ve entertained that thought before. So I think basically, the sky’s the limit and I can’t wait to see what happens after.
I don’t know if you saw the episode, but even their friends were like, “No, we wish we were like Nori’s Black Book but none of your friends are this funny.”
I have not seen the episode, but I did hear a little bit about that, but that’s so good. That’s nice that they all said that. It makes me feel really good. Because you know sometimes when you’re writing, you’re like, is this good? I like it, but does anyone else like it? So that makes me feel good. What did I look like? Did I look decent?
No, you looked great. You looked so calm and confident.
Okay, good. That’s the hard part when you read about someone so much, you already feel like you know them. Kim was like, “Oh, do you have any questions for us?” And I’m thinking, “I already know everything.” I was super nervous. I had to say all these affirmations before I met them like, “This is where you’re supposed to be. This is going to be great.” I was sitting there waiting, and one of the crewmen was like, “Oh, are you nervous?” I said, “I could throw up right now. If I wanted to, if I really thought about it, what the weight of this moment means,” you know what I’m saying? “I could throw up.” But I had to keep cool, calm. I didn’t want to freak them out by being weird. It worked out. If I didn’t look good though, I was going to be like, “I’m wearing KKW,” which I was. (laughs) I was wearing KKW [Beauty] and I was wearing Khloé and Malika’s little best friend palette. I sprayed on a little KKW fragrance. Oh my God. I’m such a nerd.
Also, can we discuss you calling the twins [Malika and Khadijah Haqq] the Malikas?
Can we discuss Khloé loving it? She’s like, “I love the Malikas.” I play off the audience’s perception. I noticed nobody knows who Khadija is, which is so weird to me. These are two totally different people. They don’t even look that much alike anymore. They can’t remember Khadija’s name for some reason.
People use your words and the things you say when talking about the Kardashians. How do you feel about knowing that you’ve had such an impact on pop culture?
It’s an overwhelming feeling because when you’re just writing, doing your thing, you’re kind of in your own bubble, and you don’t realize that it touches that many people to the point where I was listening to a podcast, I was listening to Heather McDonald’s Juicy Scoop, and I heard her say, “The Malikas.” One time Kim tweeted, “DadYe,” and I was like, oh my God, I made that word up. When you do something as a hobby or do stuff that you love, and then people really respond to it, it’s just a really dope feeling. I’m just happy people are having fun with it, and I’m happy that the people I poke fun at are good sports, and they appreciate it too.
Watch the final season of Keeping Up With Kardashians on Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on E!.
