Mary Jo Campbell, mother of Kris Jenner and grandmother of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, dies at 91

A family's heart

Mary Jo Campbell, known to millions as MJ Shannon, died on Thursday, July 16, at the age of 91. Her daughter Kris Jenner announced the death on Instagram, where she described her mother as the emotional centre of one of the world's most famous families.

Today we said goodbye to my beautiful mom MJ. There are no words that can express what she meant to me or the pain of having to say goodbye. My mother was the heart of our family.

Jenner, 70, said her mother taught her to love family unconditionally, to be kind, and to never take a single shared moment for granted. She thanked her for every sacrifice and wise piece of advice, adding that her heart was "broken into a million pieces."

A life in the spotlight

Campbell became a familiar face through her regular appearances on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which aired on E! from 2007 to 2021, and later on the Hulu series The Kardashians. Viewers knew her for a dry, sharp humour and a willingness to deliver blunt advice. According to IMDb, she made 12 appearances on the original show and three on the sequel.

Her 90th birthday was celebrated with a party at a San Diego hotel, an episode that showed Kris Jenner tearfully calling her mother her best friend. Campbell replied with characteristic optimism, joking that there was still time for more celebrations.

The businesswoman behind the brand

Long before the Kardashian name became a global brand, Campbell ran Shannon & Company, a children's clothing store in La Jolla, California. Both Kris Jenner and her sister Karen worked there, and it was also the site of Kim Kardashian's first job.

You were the woman who showed me what it means to be a hardworking businesswoman.

Kim, 45, posted a series of photos with her grandmother, calling her "my best friend, my gossip buddy, my eternal twin sister." She said Campbell always believed in her and was her refuge, adding that her love is woven into every member of the family.

A life marked by resilience

Campbell was born in Arkansas on July 26, 1934. She married for the first time as a teenager, a union that lasted only two months. In 1954 she married Robert Houghton, with whom she had Kris and Karen; the couple divorced in 1962. In 1968 she married businessman and World War II veteran Harry Shannon, whose surname the family adopted. He died in 2003.

She survived cancer twice, a fact the family often cited as a source of inspiration. More recently, she had struggled with pain and deep sadness following the death of her daughter Karen Houghton from cardiac arrest in March 2024 at age 65. In an episode of The Kardashians, Kris Jenner said her mother was having a very difficult time and hated seeing her suffer.

Tributes and a note of controversy

While the family mourned, Portuguese outlet SAPO reported that the timing of social media posts by Kim Kardashian and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton became a focus of online discussion. The nature of the posts was not detailed, but the criticism added a layer of public scrutiny to an already painful moment for the family.