Two weeks ago Jordyn Woods was a name familiar to celebrity enthusiasts and Keeping Up With the Kardashians devotees. Those in the know could rattle off her titles—model, Life of Kylie star, Kylie Jenner's ride or die—but the 21-year-old wasn't someone who was intrinsically woven into the fabric of pop culture. "I wouldn't say I'm famous or that I'm known for anything really, except for being around people who are," she told Refinery29 in 2016, "that's awesome, but it also puts me in a weird position, because I never want to just be known as someone's friend."
What a difference one rough night out can make.
Because these days the Southern California native has reached infamy status. Even those who still aren't entirely sure who she is have heard her name bandied about the Internet the past few days. And if British tabloid The Sun is to be believed, Jordyn, whose current business deals include a size-inclusive activewear line called SECNDNTURE and a collaboration with Eylure lashes, is being inundated with offers, certain broadcasting companies even floating the idea she could have her own reality show, something a source presents as the chance to tell "her side of the story."
And if that's the case, yesterday morning could be considered a test run.
In the initial days after multiple people told Khloe Kardashian that Jordyn had been seen making out with Tristan Thompson, Khloe's boyfriend and father of her nearly 1-year-old daughter True, at a party on Feb. 17, Jordyn remained tightlipped. Though sources told E! News she was placing frantic apologetic phone calls to Khloe, BFF Kylie and even Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner, she avoiding speaking her truth on social media.
But on Tuesday she said quite the mouthful without actually uttering anything at all. In a brief appearance on Instagram live, a camera followed her as she strode up to a round red table—a spot at which she had just availed herself of family friend Jada Pinkett Smith's offer to give her side of the situation on the actress' Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk. While Jordyn remained quiet in the clip, her knowing look indicated she had some things to say.
As for Pinkett Smith, she was looking to play mediator, something she had doubtlessly done countless times in the years since Jordyn's father, the late John Woods, met Will Smith while working as a sound engineer on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and helped facilitate a playdate between Jordyn and the similarly aged Jaden Smith. A source told TMZ her intention was "to create a healing between Jordyn and Khloe" and that certainly seemed to be the case as she championed the girl she's known her whole life to "just come clean."
And so, with that encouragement, Jordyn told her truth.
Yes, she said, she had been out the evening of Sunday, Feb. 17 and ended up at the same club as Thompson. And when the girls she was with said they were continuing the party at his L.A. pad, she tagged along. "I'm like, 'Cool, that's okay.' It feels like a safe environment. I'd rather it be at his house than a random stranger," she explained in her half-hour chat with Pinkett Smith.
While there, she swore, she never came close to hooking up with Tristan, save for allowing her legs to rest on top of his as she perched on the arm of his chair. "In my head, this is innocent. Like, we're all drinking, we're all chilling. There's no way it would look like a lap dance," she noted. "But I could see why people would say, 'Oh, they're getting cozy.'"
The actually crossing of the line, she said, came after she peered outside, noticed the sun had come up ("The two nights before I had been on kind of a partying binge where that wasn't the first place I stayed till 6 in the morning,") and realized it was time to climb into her waiting chauffeured sedan.
"On the way out, he did kiss me," she revealed of Thompson, stressing that she wasn't placing the blame for the incident squarely on the Cleveland Cavaliers center's broad shoulders "because I allowed myself to be in that position. I allowed myself to be there."
If mistake number one was rolling up to Thompson's home in the first place ("How I would feel if someone close to me is hanging out at my ex's house or the father of my child, I wouldn't—I didn't think about that. That's the first part of the problem," she admitted) her bigger blunder came later when she spoke to Khloe and let her know she'd been hanging with the basketball pro.
"I had talked to Khloe and she asked me what was going on. 'Is everything fine?' And in my head of trying to forget that part of the story, I was just like, 'You know, no, he was chilling. Everything was okay. Like, there were girls there, but he wasn't all over the girls,'" she recalled to Pinkett Smith. "I just knew how much turmoil was going on that I was like, let me not just throw more fuel on the fire. I know I was trying to protect Khloe's heart. She doesn't deserve this either."
This would be the days of torture Jordyn has endured since the story came out. Unable to eat or do much of anything, she's tried her best to sleep, hoping that each time she woke up she'd realized this had all been an unfortunate nightmare. Instead, she climbs out of bed and sees the wave of hateful new messages that have been sent her way via social media. Still, she insisted, she hadn't come to Pinkett Smith to play victim, rather, she wanted to take responsibility for her mistake in not being fully honest from the start.
"When I was asked about what happened that night, I didn't tell the truth to the people that I loved. Not because of malicious intent, but because I was just scared," she concluded. "If I would have told the truth from the beginning. 'You know what, I was there. We were drunk. This happened.' Then I wouldn't be in this position today."
While some of the more cynical pop culture enthusiasts may have been hoping for a little more bloodshed, going full-on remorse was likely a smart strategy for Jordyn. For starters, there were the multiple reports suggesting Jordyn, as someone who's long been a member of the family's inner circle, appeared on their collection of reality shows and was even involved in a few business deals, likely long ago signed a non-disclosure agreement that would limit how much she's legally able to share.
And then there's the fact that her actions had already left her on the outs with the entire Kards clan, who tend to band together when one of their own is wronged and there's really no benefit to stirring up more bad blood.
Once the news came to light, the model was summarily dismissed from the family text chain, became persona non grata at any future events or celebrations and was asked to vacate Kylie's guest house tout suite. (No word on if the Kylie Cosmetics mogul, 21, asked her to return the 2017 Mercedes she gifted on Jordyn's 20th birthday.)
And it wasn't just her personal life that took a hit.
Having basically become an unofficially member of reality TV's first family, Jordyn benefitted from the fruits of their labors, she collaborated with Kylie on a line of glosses, lipsticks and eyeshadows for her near-billion-dollar beauty brand and served as a model for Khloe's Good American denim line. But as of last week, she was scrubbed from the Good American website and the Kylie Cosmetics' Jordy lip kit was relegated to the discount bin.
An insider tells E! News Jordyn has been fully compensated for her work thus far, but there will be no further opportunities headed her way. "Jordyn has been removed from all business ventures with the family. She was removed from Good American last week and she is out of all of Kylie's business ventures well," says the insider. "There is no way they were going to continue working with her or ever will in the future. That relationship is completely over."
It's been a harsh realization for Jordyn who's found herself back at her mom's California pad, desperately trying to shore up those in her circle of friends not connected to the Kardashian-Jenners.
"Jordyn is living her worst nightmare," an insider told E! News. "She's completely distraught and knows she has lost everything. Her life will never be the same."
All that's left to do is continue to hustle and hope for the best. Even at her lowest, Jordyn turned out to celebrate her Eylure collaboration last week, though those in attendance noted a marked difference from the bubbly girl who eagerly promoted a 2016 venture with U.K. clothing company Boohoo.
"It was a pretty weird vibe overall. Jordyn wasn't there for very long at all, just a quick appearance," lifestyle and beauty blogger Lauren King told People, while beauty and lifestyle blogger Jade Simmone remarked to the outlet that she "seemed really depressed," as she thanked the crowd for "supporting me through everything that's going on."
Noting the whole night felt like a necessary obligation for Jordyn, Simmone told People, "She seemed kind of down and and kind of sad. Even her speech you can barely hear what she is saying, like she wasn't feeling it."
She put more passion into her appearance on Red Table Talk, though if Khloe's tweets are any indication, the mea culpa isn't going over all that well in the Kardashian-Jenner enclave.
Denying Jordyn's insistence that she reached out to apologize via phone and text, Khloe wrote, "Why are you lying @jordynwoods ?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story. BTW, You ARE the reason my family broke up!"
Because for all of Jordyn's willingness to be hooked up to a lie detector and repeat the whole tale, the Kardashian family isn't buying what she's selling.
"Nobody believes Jordyn's story for a second," an insider tells E! News. "Her entire version of events was a lie and totally self-serving. She has taken a bad situation and made it worse by concocting this fake story to try and make herself look better."
From Jordyn's perspective, though, just being able to give her take has left her feeling a smidge of hopefulness. While she told Pinkett Smith she's avoided the requisite clapbacks on social media, she felt it necessary to defend herself when she saw how the situation was affecting her family.
Her older brother hasn't been able to go to work, she revealed, her mom has avoided the grocery store and her 12-year-old sister Jodie Woods has been calling out from school, afraid to show her face. "We can't leave the house," she said. At this point, she continued, "It's gone too far and enough is enough. And when the safety of the people I love is in jeopardy, I have to speak."
And just maybe, her words could help sway a few former associates. Aside from the Smiths who are standing decisively behind her with no less than Uncle Willy calling in from the Bad Boys 3 set to say, "I want you to know, that you are supported, and I got you, and we got you," Jordyn noted that many of the people she expected in her corner "are nowhere to be found."
Though she stopped short of naming Kylie as someone who turned her back, their once-rock solid friendship is on decidedly shaky ground. The beauty mogul and mother of 13-month-old Stormi, has been left wrestling with the idea that maybe she never truly knew Jordyn at all while also grappling with the reality of excising out someone who's been her ride or die since the start of high school.
Though source told E! News Kylie "cut out" Jordyn with the rest of her fam, this is a person she's described in turn as a sister, a wife and her only friend. The pair even cemented their lifelong bond with a commitment ceremony in Peru that aired on Life of Kylie.
So while the door to her Hidden Hills, Calif. mansion is certainly closed to Jordyn, Kylie's heart may not be. Though a source stresses to E! News that Jordyn's business ties with the family have been permanently severed ("She is completely out of the picture,") Kylie hasn't been speaking in such absolutes.
"Whether Kylie ultimately forgives her and can be friends with her is a separate decision," says the source. "Kylie is still struggling and feels lost without Jordyn. She knows that for now they need time apart and that they have to go their separate ways. But Kylie is leaving room for a possible friendship down the line."
And with that sliver of hope, Jordyn plans to press on.
"I'm willing to take full responsibility," she insisted to Pinkett Smith. "I'm not asking for people to like me. I'm not asking for you to forgive me overnight. I'm just asking for you to hear me and to feel me."