Jacob Myers-Norys has responded to Khloe Kardashian after she accused him of sending her a stream of unanswered direct messages, apologising for making the reality star uncomfortable while disputing parts of her account.
The science teacher became the focus of online attention after Kardashian left a flirtatious comment on one of his Instagram posts. The interaction prompted fans to speculate about a possible romance between the pair.
During a confessional on Hulu’s The Kardashians, Kardashian said the situation had “took off like wildfire” and claimed she had received 15 unanswered messages from Myers-Norys.
“I have like 15 DMs from him that have gone unresponsive,” she said. “Calm down, Yacob. Just be cool. And his name is Yacob? Yacob, please, get a J.”
In a lengthy video shared on social media, Myers-Norys said he had contacted Kardashian but disputed the number of messages. He said they were closer to seven, consisting of messages such as a thank you or birthday greeting, as well as tags in posts and stories.
He acknowledged that his behaviour may have appeared excessive, but said he had not expected Kardashian to see the messages because she had more than 300 million followers. He added that he had hoped they might make a humorous video together and bring the situation to an end.
Myers-Norys also addressed other incidents that had become associated with the story. He said a family joke about buying Kardashian an air mattress for Christmas was part of a trend involving family group chats and was not a genuine plan to host her.
A framed photograph of Kardashian and Myers-Norys displayed in his classroom was, he said, a prank gift from his high school pupils. “It wasn’t a romantic shrine,” he said, describing it as teenagers making fun of their teacher.
He also explained that a social media post about travelling to Los Angeles to see a “special girl” referred to his mother, rather than Kardashian. The trip was connected to his first Buffalo Wild Wings partnership, through which he said he gave $25 gift cards to every student and member of staff at his school.
Myers-Norys said he had listened to Kardashian’s comments and wanted to apologise for making her uncomfortable. “That was never my intention,” he said, adding that he respected her boundaries and could see how some of his messages and jokes might have been interpreted differently.
He said the online response had also affected him, claiming that months of attention focused on Kardashian had taken a toll and that he had faced overwhelming online hate and cyberbullying.
“At the end of the day, I’m just a normal person,” Myers-Norys said. “So, Khloe, I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable, and I appreciate the opportunities that came from the original interaction.”
