There was a time when the friendship between Kourtney Kardashian and Addison Rae was the subject of some pretty heavy scrutiny.
Specifically, many outsiders assumed that Kourtney was palling around with the young influencer in order to send a message to her baby daddy, Scott Disick.
And that message was: You're not the only one who can hookup with hot young models.
But was it all for show -- or were Kourtney and Addison actually hooking up?
Or was it all much more innocent than it seemed, and this was just a case of two kindred spirits enjoying a connection?
These are the mysteries that Kourtney's family wanted to get to the bottom of on Thursday night's episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
“Me and Addison made a workout video together and we’ve been working out ever since. She just basically never left,” Kourtney said in a confessional segment.
“It’s just nice to have good, positive energy around. I think sometimes you just connect with certain people and we just love hanging out with each other.”
However, Kim and Khloe suspected that the situation was not quite that simple.
“Kourtney and Addison’s dynamic is just a little interesting,” Khloe told the cameras.
“Kourt’s not interested in what I’m saying but as soon as Addison would say something, she would like, listen.”
The Kard clan decided to confront the situation head-on by inviting Addison to lunch ... without Kourtney.
"What the f--- did you do to Kourtney to make her so happy?" Khloe asked.
"Honestly, at the beginning, we were like wait, are they...hooking up? If it was that kind of relationship," she added, prompting Scott to chime in:
"I'm still thinking that. That was the elephant in the room…It's OK if you are."
"No, we're not," Addison replied, clearly a bit uncomfortable with the question (this is, after all, a 20-year-old woman being grilled by a family of celebrities).
"No, but it's just very weird that that's what the impression was."
Later in the episode, Kourtney angrily confronted her sisters, demanding to know why they insisted on interrogating her friend.
"The people you choose, when you choose to hang out with someone, it's like your energies align," Kourtney explained.
"I feel like I have a young heart and old soul. I feel like we all have such a good circle of people around us, everyone is different ages, I don't think it's about the age, I think it's about people's energies and vibes."
Kourtney elaborated in a second confessional segment:
"People seem to focus on the age gap between Addison and I but I don't think every person needs to understand my relationships with each of my friends."
She closed out the storyline with some kind words about the up-and-coming TikTok star:
"She's honestly an incredible girl," Kourtney added, "I really do like her and enjoy spending time with her."
Well, that makes sense -- but it remains to be seen if that explanation will be enough for Kourtney's family!
