Kim Kardashian is not liable against Blac Chyna’s defamation claim

Blac Chyna sued the Kardashians several years ago, and the trial has been happening for a few weeks. Which is surprising in and of itself, because you would think that the Kardashians would simply find some way to get Chyna to back off and go away. Maybe she wanted her day in court, or maybe the Kardashians just didn’t want to throw some go-away money at Chyna. Chyna’s lawsuit stems from her breakup with Rob Kardashian, the cancelation of their reality show (Rob & Chyna) and Rob posting revenge p-rn of Chyna following their breakup. I would say that Chyna has a good case against Rob specifically, but she sued Kim Kardashian for defamation, and she sued the family over the loss of her reality show.

So, the Kardashian-Jenners have all testified in court and I’ve read some of the coverage of their testimony. I thought Kylie was pretty effective, especially because she had been on-and-off with Tyga for a while at the time and Chyna had threatened her directly. Kris, Kim and Rob also testified, and they’ve all detailed the ways in which Chyna harassed them, threatened them, or they were witness to her aggressive behavior. All in all, I wonder why anyone thought that Chyna’s case was going to be a slam dunk, or that she was going to do any kind of reputational damage to the Kardashian-Jenners. On Friday, the judge threw out the defamation part of the case.

A Los Angeles judge ruled Kim Kardashian should not be held liable against Blac Chyna’s defamation claim. Documents obtained by Page Six show the court ruled that “no statement” made by the Skims founder, 41, was “alleged to be defamatory” against the “Rob & Chyna” alum, 33. Chyna’s team previously argued they only needed to prove that each defendant in the case — including Kim, Khloé Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Kris Jenner — took a “responsible part” in defaming Chyna, whose real name is Angela White.

Jurors were told to consider evidence, including emails and messages made by Khloé, Kylie and Kris to network executives. The court agreed on Friday that there is “no evidence” to support that Kim had a “responsible part” in defaming Chyna, per the documents, so the Skims founder was dropped from the defamation claim. The ruling was based on the lawyers’ arguments, the court record and papers from the counsel.

Although Kim was absolved of the defamation charge, she is potentially still on the hook for alleged intentional interference with a contract. Chyna has accused the Kardashian-Jenner family of using their influence to cancel a potential second season of her and ex-fiancé Rob Kardashian’s E! reality show. However, Jeff Jenkins, former co-president of Bunim-Murray and executive producer of the series, testified last week that networks including BET, VH1, Lifetime and MTV were also uninterested in picking up “Rob & Chyna.”

Chyna is seeking more than $100 million for economic damages, including loss of earnings from social media posts, club and TV appearances and general damages for emotional distress. The Kardashian-Jenner family’s attorney, Michael Rhodes, tried to get the case dismissed altogether last Friday, arguing that Chyna’s claims were “absurd.” He also said the total damages amount is based on “unsupported and wildly speculative claims” since she has not provided the appropriate accounting records.

[From Page Six]

Yeah, the defamation part of the case deserved to be thrown out, I’m sorry. I know people hate Kim, but she didn’t defame Chyna (there’s actually footage of her defending Chyna to her family). As for the “intentional interference with a contract” part of the case… the crux of Chyna’s legal argument is that Kris and other family members all “colluded” to deny Rob & Chyna a second season, that the Kardashians effectively went into a room together and decided to torpedo her show (which they produced). I just… don’t see any there there, I guess? The judge clearly believed that there were questions which needed answering and that the issue should go to trial, but the trial has been a sh-tshow for Chyna, especially when Rob talked about how she strangled him, put a gun to his head (twice) and got violent when she was on cocaine. Anyway…

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

44 Responses to “Kim Kardashian is not liable against Blac Chyna’s defamation claim”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. equality says:

    If the show had been getting ratings and making money, nobody would have canceled it. I feel badly for the poor child in this mess.

    • Southern Fried says:

      I can believe the Kardashians leveraging their show, fame to keep Chyna off tv. They probably enjoyed doing it immensely. The Ks appear to chew people up and spit them out then on to the next prop.

      • Colby says:

        I’m not sure it’s chewing her up and spitting her out if she was abusive to Rob. That’s just removing an abusive person from your family.

        I know people don’t like the K’s (myself included actually) but I don’t think they did anything wrong here.

      • SophieJara says:

        Even if they did I don’t know that Angela has a case. She signed a contract with a kill clause and accepted $100k for the cancelation. She also got paid over $300k for episodes filmed and not aired. She also says she earns $2-3 million per year but does not have a bank account and she provided no financial statements and said under oath she hasn’t paid taxes since 2018? I do not think her legal team is coming through for her on this. And I can’t imagine the IRS letting that slide.

    • ohrhilly says:

      Exactly. Dream will come of age and hear about this crap. Imho, she should have sued Rob over the revenge porn.

      • ME says:

        There are two trials. The first was against Kris, Kim, Kylie, and Khloe. The second trial is against Rob. She lost the first trial, but she has plenty of evidence to win the one against Rob…which will be starting shortly I believe.

      • AAW says:

        She hasn’t “lost” this trial yet, KK was dismissed as to the defamation claim. The rest of the case is ongoing and with a jury right now.

    • HufflepuffLizLemon says:

      I agree.
      I also think if the Ks had any exposure, they would have settled with a big fat check and an NDA. They have excellent attorneys and can retain even more with specialties in these areas. The fact that they’re in court means they feel very solid about their chances.

  2. Louise177 says:

    I don’t think the Kadashians fought to cancel the show. Rob and Chyna’s breakup was a horrible trainwreck. Regardless of money and ratings, it would have been more trouble than it’s worth. There was no way to continue the show.

    • Jennifer says:

      It’s so ridiculous that Chyna thought this had a shot. Even if the show had been a hit, how can you make a show about a relationship when the relationship:
      (a) ended
      (b) ended BADLY
      (c) ended RESTRAINING ORDER badly?
      Any network exec with a tiny bit of sense would have canceled that regardless of the Kardashian train. Especially if she’s literally physically abusive and he did revenge porn. That needed to END.

      I did like the quote from Chyna about how she wouldn’t have been with Rob except for his family. THAT is very clear. She dresses like them, for sure, and she wanted to be in with them, but schlubby ol’ Rob is the only guy in the family to do that with. And boy, did that work out great for everyone.

  3. Queen Meghan’s Hand says:

    Actually Kris did write to someone at E! (I forget who) to ask that the show not be renewed. I think it’s a chicken or the egg situation. I hope Angela gets some money.

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      She did get money. She got paid for all filming regardless of airing. She was paid and accepted a cancellation amount. Funds must be running low for her.

      I only have some sympathy for the revenge porn. But that only makes her a victim there and everywhere else she was pretty awful.
      This lawsuit against the k women is a money grab hastily done.

  4. JFerber says:

    Well, despite the loss, Blac Chyna looks good coming out of court with a big smile on her face and her head held high. Win or lose, she’s a gorgeous woman. I hope she gets help for her issues and I also hope she wins in her case against Rob.

  5. Chaine says:

    I’ve been following the coverage and it’s hard for me to see how she could win or get any money. Her whole premise seems to be that since she was Kardashian adjacent, the family should have supported her by giving her an ongoing show forever. If she and her show were so great, wouldn’t another producer and network have approached her and come up with a new reality show for her when the Kardashians and E didn’t? I think Rob was equally toxic to her as she was to him and she could certainly prove he did all kinds of things wrong, but he doesn’t have any money so she is going after his family.

    • CatSquad says:

      I’m confused too. If she didn’t have a contract for X-amount of seasons, and if no promises were made, then she wasn’t entitled to one and it shouldn’t matter why she didn’t get a season 2. She had, to put it kindly, a fall out with some of the producers of her show and they chose not to continue with her. The K’s are not required to be gracious about her to others.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        We also have to look at the fact she dumped Rob before the second season aired. Plus, she accepted the 100k for the cancellation as it was not picked back up.

        As much as I hate the Kartrashians, I think Angela is barking up the wrong tree for the defamation. She is a two bit porn star with abusive behaviour. Plus, as they stated she hasn’t provided and financial proof.

        As for their child, I feel bad for her. She has 2 severely dysfunctional parents, one being a drug addict or was one.

      • Otaku fairy says:

        The abusive behavior is the only thing that matters though.

  6. teecee says:

    Chyna’s a nut. She admitted she held a gun to her child’s father’s head on multiple occasions. That alone is reason to cancel the show (unsafe workplace) and to file a restraining order against her.

    People are so desperate for a Kardashian L that they are backing straight up lunatics.

  7. Emma says:

    Kris texted a “Rob and Chyna” showrunner, “He is devastated and needs to ditch the b*tch” about Chyna, so I think there is a case to be made for her specifically sabotaging Chyna.

    With that said, Chyna and Rob had a toxic relationship (she should absolutely win a judgment against him for revenge porn if she hasn’t already — he was vile), they broke up for many reasons beside his family, and it does make sense that there couldn’t BE a show without the two of them together.

    • Emma says:

      In addition, it is notable that Rob filed to have his suit against Chyna for the alleged violence dismissed — in 2017. He claimed it was to protect their child from publicity, but one has to ask why, if she was so violent and threatening his life, and there were witnesses to some of it? Is that really protecting the child from anything?

      Just interesting that they’ll make these mostly unsupported claims but would not actually let the claims go to trial.

      • Colby says:

        I’m sorry but this is a terrible take.

        There is so much of information out there on why domestic abuse victims don’t leave or press charges against their abusers, or drop charges and cancel restraining orders.

    • Rapunzel says:

      “He is devastated and needs to ditch the b*tch” doesn’t sound like interference to me. It sounds like Kris, as manager, telling producers that Rob won’t do the show, and why. To me, the only interference involved in the cancelation of the show was Rob and Chyna’s breakup.

      • ME says:

        Kris also called Chyna “ghetto”. There is also an email Khloe sent to producers saying they need to cancel the Chyna’s show or they won’t be filming KUWTK anymore. Seemed like an altimatum to me.

  8. Surly Gale says:

    I just love the navy blue outfit the woman walking behind her is wearing. It’s a gorgeous outfit; I love everything about it.
    No comment re the lawsuits because I follow no one involved. But that navy blue outfit is making me drool, I love it so much.

    • BeanieBean says:

      I had to scroll back up to look. That is a lovely outfit, every bit of it (though I’m not overly fond of LV logo shoes & purse); I really like the all black suit & fab shoes of the woman to Chyna’s right in the final group photo.

  9. AAW says:

    Rob is not a defendant in this lawsuit, the revenge porn is a completely different case.

  10. AmelieOriginal says:

    Didn’t Rob and Chyna break up during the filming or not long after the filming for the one season wrapped? They were together for about a year in which they got engaged and Chyna got pregnant. From what I’ve read the showrunners had signed on to document their relationship but not the toxic breakdown. Who wants to watch a reality show with two people involving domestic violence? The cyber violence (revenge porn) and physical violence? Rob and Chyna killed their own show with the demise of their relationship. It wasn’t renewed because they broke up. Chyna was no longer Kardashian adjacent, her friendship with Kim was long over and she was Rob’s ex. She does have a case with Rob due to the leaking of her nude photos but she doesn’t have a case with the rest of the family. You can’t punish the rest of the family for a breakup you were involved in. Also things I’ve read about her make me doubt her parenting skills, I am worried for her children.

    Khloe and Lamar also stopped filming when their marriage went on the rocks. Not a huge mystery.

    • Shai says:

      I believe they broke up near the end of season because that’s essentially how it ended. Their breakup was so bad, I don’t know who would want to continue on with a show with either.
      You’re right, her only case is against Rob for the nudes, but I think she knows he doesn’t have the same money as the rest of his family so she’s going for the family.
      As for her kids, apparently she only sees both of them once a week. She attempted to say she doesn’t receive support from either father, but Rob & Tyga refuted her claims by stating they’re both the primary caregivers for their children. Chyna never fought back against what they said which means it’s likely true. It does explain why Dream is always with her cousins especially True & Chicago.

  11. Chic says:

    Not a good move because she will have major issues with IRS after admitting that she hasn’t paid taxes in aeons

    • DiegoInSF says:

      Good! Pay taxes like the rest of us or at least start a church like the Ks, 😂😂

  12. Shai says:

    Wasn’t Kim one of the few who actually defended her at some point? This doesn’t surprise me because at least for defamation, I don’t think Chyna has much of a case. Her & Rob broke up in season one and there was a restraining order involved, how would you film anything with that kind of drama going on? Chyna got in the way of her own bag & that’s what happened, weird how she expected her ex’s family to continue on like nothing went wrong.

  13. Julia K says:

    The IRS has eyes and ears all over. They pay attention to this stuff. I would never get into a spitting match with any of their agents. I was audited once over a very tiny CPA error which was quickly explained but not without a full review. It was finally resolved after jumping through all the hoops. They take their jobs very seriously. ( I should add that they sent me a nice letter saying the issue was resolved.)

    • Julia K says:

      Comment above says under oath that she hasn’t paid taxes since 2018. Which is worse, perjury or tax evasion or both?

  14. Delphine says:

    Yeah this trial is making Blac Chyna look pretty bad. I do like her outfit though.

  15. Cava 24 says:

    She may not have much of a case here and she has done awful things, clearly, but I hope people don’t forget about the fact that Rob posted photos of her for revenge porn. Things that that family does have a way of getting forgotten and it seems like in a lot of stories people look for someone to be the “good” person and assign that label when the facts don’t support it.

    • Otaku fairy says:

      Absolutely. Rob is an abusive awful person too, and there’s no excuse for revenge porn.

  16. Smart&Messy says:

    I’m late for this party, but I must say that her stage name is so awful. Blac because she is black and Chyna because she has almond shaped eyes = asian feature= China. It’s so trashy and awful.

    • sparky says:

      The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as her mom is known as Tokyo Toni. Mom was born in the Dominican Republic and daughter looks a lot like mom