The coronavirus crisis may have found an unlikely hero in Kylie Jenner.
Jenner usually uses her Instagram to influence her 166 million followers to buy her products from her billion dollar cosmetic company, but in the wake of the global pandemic, the young mogul is using her mega platform to urge her followers to buy into something else: their health and safety.
Earlier today, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in a television interview that younger generations need to take coronavirus more seriously, and he believes that social media stars, like Jenner, can make that happen.
“We need to get our social media influencers out there in helping folks understand that this is serious. This is absolutely serious. People are dying,” the Surgeon General said on “Good Morning America.” on Thursday morning. “I have a 15 and a 14-year-old, and the more I tell them not to do something, the more they want to do it…What I really think we need to do…is get our influencers out. We need to get Kylie Jenner.”
Hours after the Surgeon General’s interview, Jenner — who had already been posting about her self quarantine on her Instagram — took to the social media platform to respond, saying that Adams encouraged her to post more frequently to help spread the word of just how serious coronavirus is, especially among young people.
“Hey guys. Happy self quarantine!” Jenner said on her Instagram stories. “I know I’ve already been doing my daily reminders about how important it is right now to practice social distancing and self quarantine. I’m going on my ninth day. The coronavirus is a real thing. I listened to the Surgeon General this morning and even though I’ve already been doing my daily reminders, he definitely encouraged me to come on here and talk to you guys so you can see me and hear me.”
Jenner pleaded for her followers to stay inside, saying, “Practice social distancing, self quarantine.”
She explained that many people with COVID-19 can be asymptomatic, and she touched on the danger of younger people infecting older people. “If you live with your parents, you don’t want to go home and get your parents sick,” she said. “You might have it and not even know and be infecting other people. It’s serious, and the only way that we’re going to slow this down is if we do this because there is not a cure right now.”
“Nobody is immune to this. Millennials are not immune to this,” Jenner said. “New evidence actually shows that a large percentage in the hospital right now are young adults.”
The reality star spoke in a positive and encouraging tone, creating a sense of community among her Instagram followers. She also asked for other social media influencers to spread the message and tell their followers to self quarantine.
“I love you guys. We’re going to get through this together. We just have to listen to each other, respect each other, self quarantine,” she said.
The “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” star went as far as to provide ideas of activities that can keep people entertained, sharing that she’s occupied herself with puzzles, cooking, reading, spending time with her daughter and watching HBO’s “Westworld.” (She’s currently binging Season 2.)
Jenner has experience in self quarantining, she said, because she stayed inside her home for nearly nine months when she hid her pregnancy from the world in 2017, opting to stay out of the spotlight to retain her privacy while she was expecting.
“When I was pregnant, by the way, the reason I kept it a secret is because I didn’t leave the house. I literally didn’t leave the house. Towards the end of my pregnancy, helicopters would fly over my house every day, so I was scared to even go outside,” Jenner said. “But it was my choice to do that, so I never let myself get bored — I watched movies, I read books, I would do full spa days and take long baths, do masks, take care of my skin, take care of my hair…I did so many puzzles when I was pregnant. Puzzles? Underrated.”
Jenner even told her followers to engage with her via social media and share their self quarantining experiences.
“Being at home is fun. We can have fun at home, guys,” she said. “Tweet me what you’ve been doing. We can do this together.”