Kim Kardashian has formally scored a serious authorized victory after a courtroom ordered a person who sued her over a mistaken social media publish to pay greater than $167,000 in authorized charges. The lawsuit stemmed from a February 2024 incident during which Kardashian by chance posted a photograph of the mistaken Ivan Cantu whereas advocating for felony justice reform on-line.
In line with courtroom paperwork reviewed by the Daily Mail, the fact star was awarded $167,473.69 after Ivan Cantu’s defamation lawsuit in opposition to her was dismissed. The person Kardashian mistakenly recognized shared the identical title as a Texas dying row inmate who had just lately been executed following a conviction in a 2000 double homicide.
Though Kardashian shortly deleted the picture and later described the mix-up as an sincere mistake, Cantu sued the SKIMS founder, claiming the publish broken his fame and brought on emotional misery.
Kardashian’s Authorized Crew Known as Lawsuit ‘Clearly Meritless’
Cantu initially filed the lawsuit in 2024, accusing Kardashian of getting “revealed and disseminated false info” about him. He argued in courtroom filings that the social media publish was “clearly unfaithful, inaccurate, unfounded, surprising, scandalous, degrading, disgraceful, and/or shameful.”
Nevertheless, the case was dismissed final November after a federal decide dominated that Cantu failed to indicate proof that he suffered precise hurt from the mistaken publish. That dismissal later opened the door for Kardashian to hunt reimbursement for her authorized charges.
In line with courtroom filings, Kardashian’s attorneys argued that Cantu introduced “a clearly meritless lawsuit” in opposition to the billionaire actuality star after what they described as a “easy mistake.” Her authorized staff additionally argued that Cantu was making an attempt to punish Kardashian for talking publicly about felony justice reform points.
Cantu allegedly “thought he might drive a payout primarily based on her superstar and wealth … however his gambit failed, and now he refuses to simply accept the results of his actions,” Kardashian’s legal professionals wrote.
Choose Rejected Argument About Kim Kardashian’s Wealth
Throughout the authorized battle over legal professional charges, Cantu argued that forcing him to pay Kardashian’s authorized payments would financially destroy him, particularly given the huge hole between their private fortunes.
Court docket filings famous that Kardashian’s internet price has been estimated at greater than $1.9 billion. However Los Angeles Superior Court docket Choose Michael Small finally rejected the argument, ruling that Kardashian’s wealth was legally irrelevant.
The decide reportedly said that whereas it might seem uncommon “that an individual of modest monetary means” must reimburse somebody as rich as Kardashian, monetary disparities don’t impression California’s obligatory legal professional price statutes.
Choose Small did, nonetheless, scale back a portion of Kardashian’s requested authorized charges tied to what’s generally known as “charges upon charges,” slicing that quantity by roughly one-third. Even with the discount, Kardashian was nonetheless awarded greater than $167,000.
Ivan Cantu Claimed Kardashian ‘Destroyed’ His Privateness
All through the case, Cantu maintained that Kardashian’s social media mistake brought on lasting emotional and reputational hurt. In authorized filings, he argued Kardashian “labeled him a felony to her 350+ million followers … at a really delicate time in his life, inflicting nervousness and despair.”
His legal professional, Greg Sobo, additionally blasted Kardashian publicly all through the case, arguing that celebrities ought to be held accountable for errors made on social media platforms. “For too lengthy, we have now seen social media trigger devastating accidents to harmless victims,” Sobo beforehand stated. “Social media is simply too usually abused to bully the harmless, incite hurt, and injure our communities.”
The lawyer added, “Identical to those that trigger bodily hurt ought to be held accountable, those that trigger accidents to harmless victims by social media should even be held accountable.”
Sobo additionally accused Kardashian of making an attempt to weaponize her wealth after the lawsuit was dismissed. “Having wrongfully and publicly accused an harmless man of a criminal offense he didn’t commit, inflicting him nervousness and struggling, she now makes an attempt to make use of her wealth and energy to take additional benefit of the judicial system by accumulating an inflated judgment that’s meaningless to her,” he stated.
Kim Kardashian Beforehand Known as The Incident An Sincere Mistake
Attorneys for Kardashian beforehand defended the scenario as an unintended mix-up tied to her advocacy work in felony justice reform. They said the picture was eliminated “nearly instantly as soon as the error was found.”
Following the unique dismissal of the case, Kardashian’s attorneys additionally stated they have been “happy with the courtroom’s ruling” and appreciated its “recognition that an sincere mistake dedicated in the midst of Ms. Kardashian’s train of free speech doesn’t function the idea for meritless litigation.”
