The Kardashians

Kim Kardashian wrote an emotional email to her extended family members early Monday morning -- giving them a head's up that she was filing for divorce ... and apologizing for "jumping the gun."

TMZ has learned ... Kim emailed several people on her father's side of the family in the hours before she filed the documents with the court ... saying, "I would rather you hear it from me than someone else or the news."

In the letter, Kim explains, "I know this seems crazy ... I've spent the last few months struggling with my marriage."

"Kris is a great guy but we come from such different worlds and he isn't what I thought when we 1st met."

"I'm embarrassed that I took everyone on this journey with me and had this huge wedding. But I have to be happy, so I have to let this relationship go. "

Kim Kardashian is telling friends ... she is so "distraught" over the divorce and torrent of publicity that followed, she's bailing on her Australian appearances and returning to the US of A.

Kim is moaning to friends, The Melbourne Cup appearance -- a Thoroughbred horse race -- is the first time she's ever missed work, but she says she just can't handle it.

The die was cast in the Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries marriage during the prenup negotiations -- which were marked by bickering, pettiness, and even contempt ... sources connected with the former couple tell TMZ.

Our sources say ... the prenup was negotiated during the summer. Kim, Kris, and their lawyers had multiple meetings in various configurations. We're told both Kim and Kris were sniping at each other during the talks, each complaining -- sometimes bitterly -- about the way the other was treating them.

One of the big sticking points -- how much of a cut Kris would get from all the wedding-generated moolah.

As one person familiar with the situation tells TMZ ... "It was really apparent then ... this marriage wasn't going to last, and even they could see it wasn't a good idea."

In the end, Kim pretty much got her way. Their assets stayed separate, Kris got a limited cut of the wedding money, and they lived happily ever after.

Kim Kardashian just got grilled about WHY she pulled the plug so quickly on her marriage to Kris Humphries -- and she chalked it up to that ole standby ... woman's intuition.

Kim was on the Australian morning news show "Sunrise" when the host asked how hard she worked to save the 72 day union -- and if there was any counseling involved. Kim said she was just following her heart ... and "there's no right or wrong."

Something smells rotten with Kim Kardashian's claim that she didn't profit from her wedding ... and this morning, the TMZ newsroom sniffed out the BS.

We previously reported, Kim and her mom are adamant they didn't make a single cent from Kim's wedding spectacle ... despite the fact the whole fam got paid for the TV special, wedding pictures and more.

Emily Post literally wrote the book on proper wedding etiquette ... but now, her famous descendants are butting heads on what Kim Kardashian should do with her wedding gifts.

On one side, Emily's great-granddaughter-in-law Peggy Post -- who wrote an article in The New York Times just three months ago, explaining how gifts should be returned if the wedding is canceled, or if the couple "seeks to end the marriage almost immediately (say within a month or two)."

Since Kim and Kris just inched past the two month mark ... they're in the clear with Peggy.

But on the other side of the etiquette battle is Emily's great-great-granddaughter, Lizzie Post -- who told the New York Daily News, "after just 72 days, the gifts must be returned to the wedding guests."

As we previously reported, Kim is not returning the gifts -- instead, she's making a $200k donation to her favorite charity.

Sources close to Kim tell us ... KK feels the gifts were given out of love and she doesn't feel an obligation to return them to the sender. But we're told Kim understands her marriage was short, and decided the donation was a good compromise.

The Kardashian family is screaming it from the mountain tops -- trying to convince the world they DID NOT PROFIT from Kim's ill-fated wedding ... but there seems to be a problem with their logic.

Kris Jenner appeared on "Today" this morning ... and said, "It saddens me to think that one of the rumors is that we’ve sold the television rights for millions of dollars, not true. We profited or she profited – absolutely false."

Jenner's statement follows a stern blog post from Kim -- in which she also stated, "There are also reports that I made millions of dollars off of the wedding. These reports are simply not true and it makes me so sad to have to even clarify this."

This morning, Kim appeared on the "Kyle and Jackie O" show in Australia, and once again insisted she didn't marry for cash ... saying, "I would never marry for a TV show, for money, for anything like that, and I think that's really ridiculous that I have to even, you know, kind of defend that but, you know."

Still, Kris admits K&K, "made some money for the pictures that were sold and things like that" ... but says the fam didn't profit, because all of that money went back towards paying for the wedding.

But here's the problem -- most people can't afford a $10 million wedding, and if Kim chose to pump her MASSIVE paychecks back into her wedding, that's her call ... and it STILL COUNTS AS PROFIT. Kim could have had a $6 mil wedding ... and banked $4.

So, we gotta ask ...

Kim Kardashian is telling friends ... Kris Humphries is full of B.S. when he talks about how much his family loved and supported her. We're told Kim says they had nothing but disdain for her and her family, and never wanted their son to tie the knot.

Kim is telling her posse, "It's ridiculous that Kris' family is making Kris look like the victim." We're told she says the reality is ... they constantly "belittled" her, were "nasty" to her family and Kim is saying a lot of this was captured on camera.

Kris Humphries' divorce could be the best thing to ever happen to his career ... cause the out-of-work NBA star's been flooded with job offers ever since Kim K. dropped the hammer.

TMZ has learned ... Chippendales in Vegas has already reached out to Humphries, hoping to fill their empty celebrity MC spot at the Rio -- previously occupied by ex-98 Degrees singer Jeff Timmons.

A rep for the show tells us, " We figured since he was unemployed and, the soon-to-be ex-husband of Kim Kardashian, a gig at Chippendales might be the perfect job to help restore his faith in women."

And that's not all ... a dating website called LocalHotClassifieds.com claims it's willing to match Kris' salary on "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" if he'll agree to become their new spokesman.

Kim Kardashian's wedding guests ain't gonna get their expensive wedding gifts back ... but KK wants to make it up to everyone ... with one BIG ASS charity donation.

Kim just blogged about her decision to divorce Kris Humphries ... insisting she "married for love" ... but says, "I got caught up with the hoopla and the filming of the TV show that when I probably should have ended my relationship, I didn’t know how to and didn’t want to disappoint a lot of people."

She also wrote, "There are also reports that I made millions of dollars off of the wedding. These reports are simply not true and it makes me so sad to have to even clarify this."

"I’m so grateful to everyone who took the time to come to my wedding and I’ll be donating the money for all the gifts to the Dream Foundation."

Sources close to Kim tell TMZ ... KK plans to give the organization a $200k check.

Kris Humphries' family has been crushed by Kim Kardashian's decision to end their marriage -- telling friends, the reality star is making a massive "mistake" for giving up on Kris so soon.

Sources close to Kris' family tell TMZ, everyone knew there was tension in the relationship -- but they never imagined divorce was on the table. As one source put it, "Everyone fights."

The Humphries believe Kim is making a huge "mistake" -- insisting she never gave the marriage a fighting chance ... and should have tried harder to make things work.

That said, Kris' fam still believes he can salvage his marriage and talk Kim down off the ledge, convincing her to slam the brakes on divorce proceedings.

One less post-divorce snag to worry about -- TMZ has learned, Kim Kardashian won't have to legally reinstate her famous last name ... because she never changed it to Humphries in the first place.

TMZ broke the story ... Kim planned to change her last name to Humphries soon after her wedding -- but it never happened.

October 31 isn't just the day Kim Kardashian filed for divorce ... it's the same date that Kim met Kris Humphries for the very first time at a New Jersey Nets basketball game back in 2010.

TMZ has learned ... Kim was sitting courtside at the Izod Center in NJ when she noticed the 6'9" power forward running up and down the court ... and thought he was "cute."

We're told Kim worked her magic and orchestrated a meeting with Kris ... and the two hit it off.

Kim and Kris began dating soon after ... then engaged ... then married ... and on October 31, 2011 ... Kim filed for divorce.

A sad-looking Kim Kardashian faced the media last night ... a MASSIVE swarm of paparazzi waiting for her at LAX, which fired off questions faster than Kim could end a marriage.

Kim got the hell out of Dodge, boarding a plane to Australia ... without her wedding ring.

Meanwhile, back in Beverly Hills ... Bruce Jenner told photogs, "Kim's doing great."
When the photogs mentioned that he'd be losing a son-in-law, Bruce actually seemed bummed out. Sad.

Kim Kardashian will not pay Kris Humphries a red cent in their divorce ... TMZ has learned.

As we first reported, Kim and Kris have a prenup -- which Kim felt was "the smart thing to do."

Sources familiar with the prenup tell TMZ ... the document keeps ALL assets separate, and with such a short marriage neither walks away with money from the other -- not a single penny.

Now that leaves just one piece of business on the table -- Kim's $2 million engagement ring. Sorry Kris, but you lose on 2 counts:

1. Under California law, once you said "I do," you lost any rights to the ring
2. You didn't pay for the ring, stupid

But it's not horrible news for Kris, because he made $3.2 million from the Nets last season. Oh right, there's a lockout. Well maybe he saved ...

Kim Kardashian agonized over her decision to divorce Kris Humphries, and didn't make the final decision until Sunday night ... TMZ has learned.

Sources directly connected with Kim tell us ... KK cried all weekend, deciding to file legal docs, then changing her mind several times over.

We're told she clearly wasn't happy but wasn't 100% sure the marriage was irretrievably broken.