As the feisty matriarch of the Jenner clan, she was rarely speechless – and she certainly knew how to deliver both barrels to one of her world-famous in-laws who crossed paths with her.
Esther Jenner, whose death at age 96 was announced Friday, fired off a barrage of funny and chosen words during a boisterous DailyMail.com interview.
Her passing was announced by the heartbroken Caitlin Jenner – who started life as her son Bruce and won Olympic decathlon gold before becoming a TV celebrity and transitioning.
Very loyal to the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, – Bruce at the time – she saved the vitriol for his “controlling monster” ex-wife Kris, 67.
Speaking in 2014 shortly after their divorce, she revealed she was “ecstatically happy” about the breakup after 23 years of marriage, saying of her former daughter-in-law, “She could insult you with a big smile on her face.” I know.’
Caitlyn Jenner’s mother Esther Jenner passed away at the age of 96. DailyMail.com spoke to Esther in an exclusive interview in 2014 where she opened up about Caitlyn’s marriage to Kris Jenner
Esther revealed she was “ecstatically happy” with the split, saying Kris “could offend you with a big smile on her face.” I know’
Esther’s passing was announced by the heartbroken Caitlin Jenner, who started life as her son Bruce and won Olympic decathlon gold before becoming a TV celebrity and transitioning
‘What do you do with such a person? You are going to avoid them if possible. She was sneaky about my grandchildren, and that’s something I can’t stand.
“She’s domineering — it’s do it her way, or there’s no way. I had very little to do with Kris. I stayed away from her as much as possible.’
And she couldn’t resist talking about Kris’ breast augmentation, then joked, “Of course Kris got the biggest she could put in a long time ago.
“She told Pam (Bruce’s sister) that when she went to get the implants done, she told the doctor to make them as big as possible. That was before she ever married Bruce.”
Caitlin, 73, revealed Esther’s death on Instagram Friday, saying: ‘I am heartbroken to announce that my mother passed away peacefully yesterday morning.
“Losing a mother is unique in that she is the only person who has loved me all my life. I will miss her immensely. She was a few weeks shy of 97 and living a full life. love you mom.’
That love was always mutual and surprisingly evident as Esther chatted at her home in old-fashioned Lewiston, Idaho, far from the celebrity glamor of LA.
She revealed she was happy with the divorce – her son’s third at the time – saying: “Bruce sounds so much happier now, when I talk to him he sounds like himself. I’m delighted.
“I hope she changes her name back to Kardashian. I don’t want her to have that name.’
However, that wish was not granted.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star announced the sad news in a heartfelt Instagram post on Friday
Esther said last year that she spoke to her daughter every day. She stayed true to the former Keeping Up With The Kardashians star
Esther remembered visiting Kris and then Bruce after Kendall and Kylie were born and being shocked by Kris’ mother method.
Esther’s resentment towards Kris began shortly after Bruce married her in Bel-Air in April 1991.
She recalled visiting them in LA after her daughters Kendall, now 27, and Kylie, 25, were born and was shocked by Kris’ maternal methods.
She said, “Kris never cooked as far as I know, she was always running to eat with her girlfriends and she left Bruce to take care of the two babies and he did.
“The only person I ever saw change diapers was Bruce, I never saw Kris do it. He’s the one who got them bathed at night and in their pajamas, he’s the one who drove them back and forth to school when they went to their private school, not Kris.
“I don’t know why, she was going to go on vacation, take the girls to Cabo San Lucas. Kris didn’t bother to bring up Kendall and Kylie, but Bruce did bring them up, thank goodness.”
Esther said she was never told the reason for the split.
“But he was so composed, she was such a controller,” she said.
She remained shockingly indiscreet, adding, “I think he had a good time.” As far as I know, Kris had a boyfriend… [like] when she was married to [Robert] Kardashian, she could have had someone who knows, I don’t know. I can’t say she did, because I don’t stay that close to her.’
Esther was critical of Kris’ parenting style. She said, “Kris never cooked as far as I know, she was always running to eat with her girlfriends and she left Bruce to take care of the two babies and he did”
Esther appeared on the Kardashian show in 2013, but regretted it. In the episode, she and Kris seemed to put their bad blood behind them, but Esther felt cheated when she saw the broadcast three months later.
Remarkably, Esther kept a copy of Kris’s autobiography And All Things Kardashian on her bookshelf, which she read and was promptly appalled by.
She said, ‘How can anyone write a book like that? All about how great her sex was with the man who was in her life when she got divorced (from Robert Kardashian).”
Esther appeared on the Kardashian show in 2013, but regretted it. In the episode, she and Kris seemed to put their bad blood behind them, but Esther felt cheated when she saw it on television three months later.
Caitlin’s ex-wife wasn’t the only person to receive Esther’s homely and charmingly delivered disapproval — Kris’ daughters Kim, 42, and Kourtney Kardashian, 44, also popped in for a parsnip as she admitted she never got along with them.
“Oh my god, the way the girls show themselves… and it’s all surgical work they’ve done.
“What are they trying to prove?” she asked.
“Kris didn’t raise them with any morals, you know, go out and sleep with someone… things like that, you wouldn’t tell your own kids to do that.
“When Bruce and Kris got married I think Kourtney was maybe a freshman, Kim was probably in high school, Khloe was a lot younger and had the best personality, the other two weren’t even interested in talking to me, they were in a world of its own.’
Esther, who was an insurance agent, was married to Caitlin’s late father Bill for 40 years. She spent 18 years with her second husband Sam, who is also dead, and had six happy years with her late husband Frank before he passed away in 2012.
At the time, she lived in Northern and Southern California and Florida before ending up in Idaho because she and Sam studied a map, found they had never been to the American Northwest, and loved trying it out.
Esther with Kendall and Kylie, as well as Brody and Brandon Jenner and others in 2014
“I love him no matter what,” Esther said of her then-son Bruce as he transitioned into Caitlyn
Esther and Caitlin’s enduring love was also evident shortly before the latter came out as trans in April 2015 – 39 years after setting a third consecutive decathlon world record at the Montreal Olympics.
When the then-current Bruce began physical changes, including a tracheal shave to reduce the size of the Adam’s apple, Esther was asked about the female transformation and the publicity it created – at a time when attitudes were different from today’s.
“I love him no matter what,” she said.
“There is always such vulgar publicity. Don’t know. I brought this up to him on the phone when we spoke and he says ‘Mom you can’t believe this’.
“He said you can’t pay attention to this and I said, ‘Well I want to tell you one thing Bruce, I don’t care if what they put out is true or false, it won’t change my love for you ‘, and it’s true, that’s exactly how I feel, but I don’t like it.
“I will always love him, that can’t stop.”