Gossip Of The Week: Kendall Jenner Enters The Family Business

Kendall Jenner celebrated her 18th birthday earlier this month and she marked the occasion with her now much-talked about racy photo on Instagram. What’s weirder, her dad Bruce Jenner is reportedly OK with it.

To top it all off, the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” starlet was photographed hanging out in LA with one of the hottest boybanders in the Northern Hemisphere – One Direction’s Harry Styles.

Come on, it was only a matter of time before our baby girl KJ would get her turn at starring in our weekly gossip roundup. (She’s in good company. Her brother-in-law Lamar Odom has appeared twice.)

Kendall’s week of courting the cameras began on Monday, November 18, when the aspiring model accompanied older sister Kim Kardashian to Mario Testino’s much-publicized exhibit at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute in New York City. However, Kim was the one who attracted all the attention that night; the new mom arrived in a see-through white dress. Kendall, on the other hand, wore slouchy plaid trousers and a fuzzy white sweater. (Pretty mild and warm, by comparison.)

Not to be outdone (or maybe she was inspired?), Kendall upped her game and posted a lascivious picture of herself on Instagram the very next day. In it, the brunette stunner showed us she was all grown-up; she wore a black fishnet top and nothing underneath, breasts exposed. This was for a fashion shoot, mind you.

WATCH: Details On Kendall & Harry’s Dinner Date

It was a tasteful black and white image taken by Victoria’s Secret photographer Russell James—no argument here. What followed after… not so much.

Later on, Kendall returned to Twitter with a photo of her backside, wearing black panties. She was turned around and surrounded by what looks to be a hair and makeup team. Kendall jokingly Tweeted a caption to go along with the saucy pic: “behind the scenes today.. literally lol.”

Great– first she was donning half a shirt and then she lost her pants. Are there any other clothing items left?

Ultimately, TMZ scored one last laugh on Wednesday, when they caught up with a source who claimed to be close to Bruce Jenner, Kendall’s father. The source reportedly told the outlet that Bruce was proud of Kendall for showing off her assets. It’s what models do and well… Kendall’s a model.

WATCH: Kendall Jenner On Getting Advice From Her Big Sisters

Let’s take a step back here. OK, I get it. Kendall is finally of age, she’s ready to join into the Kardashian family business of self promotion and she wants the whole world to know it. I don’t need dad or a picture of the young lady’s derriere to drive that point home.

If it’s true that Kendall is trying to launch a modeling career, one semi-topless shot would have sufficed. To me, it seems desperate to strip repeatedly and creepy to get your parents (or a friend of theirs) into the mix. Kendall is represented by the esteemed Marilyn Agency and she’s on a hit television show, for Chrissakes!

I guess what upsets me the most is that Kendall didn’t need to capitalize on her body parts at all this week— hello, she was snapped going out on a dinner date with Harry Styles at Craig’s on Wednesday! The photo op alone was enough to get her the notice she wanted (or needed) in the press.

There’s no harm in going the classier route and Kendall already has an awesome head start in the biz. It’s more than anyone could hope for.

Besides, Kendall still has another three years before she turns 21— and in Hollywood, that’s plenty of opportunity to get into trouble…

— Genevieve Wong