Kim Kardashian Almost Has a Breakdown When She ‘Can’t Breathe’ in Her 2024 Met Gala Dress

The reality star takes viewers behind the scenes of that jaw-dropping corset look in the Feb. 13 episode of ‘The Kardashians’

Julia Moore is a TV writer-reporter at PEOPLE. A graduate of Northwestern University, she has been working at PEOPLE since 2022.

Kim Kardashian at the 2024 Met Gala. Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

Kim Kardashian isn’t afraid to be uncomfortable for the sake of style, but even she has her limits.

On the Thursday, Feb. 13, episode of The Kardashians, Kim, 44, details the discomfort she felt in the immediate aftermath of the 2024 Met Gala. The reality star attended the event wearing a sheer Margiela by John Galliano dress featuring a lace train with floral accents. But it was her silver corset — which gave her an impossibly tiny waist — that had everyone talking.

Her unique take on the night’s “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” theme left some people wondering how she could breathe in the extreme waist-cinching ensemble. In the episode, it’s revealed that the answer to that question was: She almost couldn’t.

Kim Kardashian at the 2024 Met Gala.Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty

Early in the episode, Kim appears to be in good spirits as she gets ready for the evening with hairstylist Chris Appleton and designer John Galliano.

“I’m not as uncomfortable as I might look,” she says. “It’s definitely a performance piece. I mean, God bless the Bridgerton cast that has to dress like this every single day. That would be so difficult.”

However, things take a turn after the event when Kim begins to panic while standing up inside a limo when her friend LaLa Anthony can’t help her out of the dress. At one point, she says she feels like she is “literally going to throw up.”

“I am claustrophobic. I’ve never felt this way before, where I feel like I can’t breathe,” she recalls in a confessional.

She continues, “It’s like I can handle it for so long, but I have to pee, I can’t breathe, I can’t get this off, so… I was like I’m going to die if you don’t get this off of me right now.”

“I’ve never been more uncomfortable,” Kim says in the limo, adding that she feels like she “can’t breathe.”

Kim Kardashian at the 2024 Met Gala.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Kim and Anthony, 43, make it back to the hotel where the reality star’s corset is unbuttoned revealing her back is purple with visible marks left by the corset. However, when she’s asked in her confessional if the pain was worth it, she says, “Abso-f—ing-lutely.”

“That’s just who I am,” Kardashian adds. “If you look good, it’s all worth it.”