#BadmaashWeek: The Indian-Canadian Kardashians

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By Fareeha Molvi

(This piece was originally published to Instagram on November 18, 2020)

#BadmaashWeek continues with the tale of Indian-Canadian sisters Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo. Like many of us, they are children of immigrants raised in a middle-class family. Unlike us, the Matharoo sisters may be the only people to have actually profited from a Nigerian prince’s solicitation. After college, Jyoti met a Nigerian billionaire who initiated her and her sister, Kiran, into the world of dating excessively wealthy men around the world:

Yachting in the Bahamas, private jets and shopping sprees in Dubai and Paris. Meanwhile they unabashedly shared the spoils of their entanglements to the ‘gram: Multiple luxury cars, a Toronto condo and $10,000/month stipend – all paid for by their beaus.

“The only time I go shopping is when someone gives me their credit card,” Kiran said in a 2018 New York Times piece about the spandex bodysuit-clad sisters, known as the “Canadian Kardashians.”

But the fantasy took a nightmarish turn when a spurned ex-lover, a politically powerful oil tycoon worth $1.8 billion, had the women detained by Nigerian police over trumped-up charges. They were detained for 18 days and released only after taping a confession to the false accusations. Soon after returning to Canada, the Matharoos found themselves on Interpol’s database of arrest warrants, usually reserved for murderers and drug traffickers. While furniture shopping in Italy, Kiran was apprehended and thrown in Italian jail for 40 days. Jyoti was stopped from boarding a flight because of an outstanding warrant for her arrest.

Today, the Matharoos’ days on the no-fly list are behind them. Not unlike the Kardashians, they parlayed a scandal into a healthy social media following, sponsorships, a food/lifestyle blog and a fashion line. They continue to post thirst traps to the feed.