While the American public has been more than a bit slavish in its dedication to all things Kardashian in recent years, a new allegation claims actual slave labor is involved in generating part of the family’s $65 million annual income.

Star magazine says workers in China — some as young as 16 — earn only $1 an hour while toiling away up to 84 hours a week in hot, squalid conditions to manufacture merchandise for the K-Dash by Kardashian label, the Kris Jenner Kollection, and Kim’s ShoeDazzle line.

So serious are these claims that the institute for Global Labour and Human Rights has launched an investigation, saying conditions in the area where the items are produced are “horrific.”

While she hasn’t visited the Chinese facilities herself, Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner told TMZ, “As far as I know the factories that are used to manufacture the Kardashian clothing and shoes have nothing terrible going on at all and … are very well policed and meet factory standards.”

[TMZ]

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