Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom

‘Armenian Genocide’ 10th Most-Searched Term on Google after Show Watched by 2.1 Million

HOLLYWOOD—The internet and social media were abuzz about the Armenian Genocide on Sunday after millions viewed the hit E! Network series “Khloe and Lamar,” which featured information about the Armenian Genocide from The Genocide Education Project (GenEd) and images and footage of Armenian Youth Federation anti-denial protests by alumni Armen Varadian and Justin Kaladjian.

According to Google’s published statistics, the term ‘Armenian Genocide’ was the 10th most-searched term on Sunday, March 11, and continued at an impressive 16th most-searched term on for most of Monday.

More than 2.1 million were reported to have watched the episode, which featured a discussion on the Armenian Genocide and was rated in the top-5 most viewed shows in the 18 to 49 age category for that day. Tweets by Khloe and her sister, Kim Kardashian, earlier in the day about the topic reached well over 13 million followers.

Google stats page from Sunday (click to enlarge)

“Khloe and Lamar informed millions in America and worldwide about the Armenian Genocide yesterday, and The Genocide Education Project was glad to help,” said GenEd Executive Director Raffi Momjian. “Sadly the failure of the international community to either prevent or punish the Armenian Genocide set a dangerous precedent, that paved the way for the Holocaust and genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and most recently Darfur. The more the public learns about these atrocities and stands up to their ongoing denial – the sooner we will see governments worldwide taking real, decisive action to end forever the cycle of genocide.”

The discussion of the Armenian Genocide focused on whether Khloe Kardashian’s husband, NBA Star Lamar Odom, would play basketball in Turkey, a particularly sensitive point given the Kardashian family’s pride in their Armenian heritage, and Turkey’s legacy as an unrepentant perpetrator of genocide against the Armenian people. In the end, Odom continued to play in the NBA, with the end of the NBA ‘lockout’ on December 8.

"Special Thanks" board following the show

E! Network producers reached out to The Genocide Education Project (GenEd), after seeing film footage and photography from an educational video that Varadian and GenEd Education Director Sara Cohan had prepared as part of a human rights curriculum project funded by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. The documentary featured photo’s of AYF-organized anti-genocide protests in New York and Washington DC taken by Kaladjian, as well as photography and video taken by Varadian in Armenia.

“We really appreciate the show’s interest in learning more about the efforts of young Armenians to raise public awareness of the Armenian Genocide, and are very excited by the fact that this weekend millions of people around the world – many for the first time – learned about our work for a truthful and just resolution of this terrible crime,” said Varadian and Kaladjian, in joint remarks.

“The AYF has been at the forefront of demanding justice for the Armenian Genocide through protest and politics for over 50 years,” said AYF Eastern U.S. Central Executive member Yervant Kachichian. “Khloe and Lamar took that message viral this weekend, dealing a powerful blow against genocide denial."