These days Kim Kardashian is a billionaire athletic wear mogul, a mother of four, and an apprentice lawyer who studies for the bar exam on a daily basis.

But when she first came to the public's attention, she was famous for three accomplishments that are arguably less impressive:

Being Paris Hilton's best friend, making a sex tape with Ray J, and figure that Sir Mix-a-Lot might describe as "packing much back."

Now, it's important to take a moment to remember what a transformative cultural figure Kim was in those day, largely due to her physique.

She represented a break from the Euro-centric beauty and body image standards that had dominated the fashion and entertainment industries for so long.

A curvy descendant of Armenian immigrants, Kim offered up a look that was seldom seen in the mainstream American media in those days.

Which is one reason that fans are so surprised that she seems to be rocking a noticeably more slender figure these days.

But most of the the people who first took notice of Kim's trimmer physique aren't crediting her for dropping some lbs. through diet and exercise.

Instead, they're accusing her of having her butt implants removed.

Which is especially crazy when you consider that Kim adamantly denies that she ever had butt implants!

“You look better with lesser implants Kimmy,” one follower commented on Kim's latest pics, which the 40-year-old posted as part of a promotional campaign for her the latest line for her Skims shapewear line.

“I swear her bum looks so different," another person chimed in.

“What happened to her booty?” a third follower asked.

Questions about the nature of Kim's famous backside have come up before, of course.

In fact, on a 2013 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kim underwent an x-ray in order to prove that her look was all natural.

"Today I am gong to have a butt x-ray to prove to the world it's real," she told the audience.

"This is a really crazy request but my sisters have dared me to get an ass x-ray because of all the rumors it's not real," Kim further explained.

From there she asked two questions designed to highlight the absurdity of having a fake booty installed.

 "If I were to have a fake ass, wouldn't it be dimple free?" Kim enquired.

"Who the hell of a normal person gets butt implants?" she demanded of her audience.

In the end, Kim was vindicated, as the x-ray showed no evidence of implants, or tinkering of any kind.

Of course, that was a long time ago, so we suppose it's possible that Kim has gotten implants in the years since.

And we guess it's possible that she's since had a change of heart and decided to remove said implants.

But as much as her critics might not want to hear it, the likeliest explanation remains that Kim simply lost some weight recently, resulting in minor badonadonk shrinkage.

Maybe it was intentional; maybe it just happened -- either way, she probably doesn't need a bunch of Instagram strangers to remind her of it.