The View panel weighed in on North West’s hand piercing after Kim Kardashian defended her daughter’s self-expression amid online criticism calling the look “dangerous.”
The debate comes as North, 13, has become more visible online through both her fashion choices and her growing music career, including the release of her debut EP, N0rth4evr, earlier this year.
North has drawn attention over the past year for her evolving style, with much of the reaction focused on the piercings seen on the backs of her hands. Dermal and surface piercings in high-friction areas like the hands can be especially prone to irritation, rejection and scarring, which is why they tend to draw added scrutiny from medical professionals and parents alike.
Kim Kardashian previously responded to similar backlash after North posted photos showing fake face tattoos and a diamond shark tooth grill.
Speaking on her sister Khloe Kardashian’s podcast, Khloe in Wonder Land, Kardashian explained that she gives her daughter room to be herself.
“I’m just not a judgmental person like that, so I try not to pay attention to it.
“But I think no one knows unless they’re in my shoes what I’m dealing with and how we have to manage certain things from the outside world or even close in our life, that we have to go through together.”
As North, whose father is Kanye West, continues developing her public image and releasing music under her own name, debate has continued online over whether that kind of expression is appropriate at her age.
One TikTok user said: “Eventually she’ll have to let the piercings go. The placement is high risk for infection and they won’t heal.”
Another wrote: “This is absolutely absurd. She is a child.”
A TikTok user also said: “North West getting a finger piercing is breaking my heart, just me?”
The discussion eventually reached The View, where the hosts largely agreed that the matter is for Kardashian and her daughter to handle, not the internet.
Whoopi Goldberg revealed, simply: “It’s her kid.”
Goldberg made clear that, in her view, outsiders have no place dictating the situation.
She added: “If she and her kid decided that’s okay, why do you care? Leave this child alone! What are your children doing?”
Joy Behar then shared that her own daughter has a nose piercing, while Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed out that teenagers often find ways to do these things whether parents approve or not.
“This is 100 percent between the parent and the child, but I will say, kids are also going to do it [even] if you don’t let them with piercings.
“I did my second hole when I was like 14 years old at a friend’s house.”
Sunny Hostin, meanwhile, noted that North is still very young and has spent her entire life under intense public attention.
She said: “I know that she has a music career that she’s starting, but she is, again, only 13 years old, and I think we need to give a 13-year-old kid a break.
“She’s growing up under the spotlight, I can’t imagine having that kind of pressure on a 13-year-old and trying to find your way.”