Kim Kardashian sued for posting photo of wrong man while advocating for death row inmate
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Kim Kardashian joins Kamala Harris for criminal justice reform event
Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a White House event with businesswoman and reality star Kim Kardashian, along with 11 recently pardoned people.
Kim Kardashian is being sued over an Instagram mix-up.
The case, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, hinges on a February 2024 Instagram Story post in which the criminal justice reform advocate — attempting to raise awareness about Ivan Cantu, a Texas man on death row — posted a photo of the wrong person.
While there was an Ivan Cantu awaiting execution in Texas, the photo used by Kardashian in her post was actually of another Ivan Cantu, who lives in New York.
Pointing out that at the time Kardashian had over 350 million followers on the platform (she now has 357 million), the suit alleges Cantu suffered severe emotional distress and embarrassment.
Kardashian is being accused of invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, libel and slander along with a fifth allegation: "false light," which accuses her of using his photograph in a false or misleading way that would be "highly offensive to a reasonable person."
The original post, attached as evidence, shows a black-and-white photo of Cantu with the text "The State will execute Ivan Cantu in 2 days. Please sign the petition to demand that Colin County DA Greg Willis request to withdraw the execution date." Below the caption was a link to a moveon.org petition.
The other Cantu, who was found guilty of murdering his cousin and his fiancée in 2001, was executed on Feb. 28, 2024, despite a public campaign to reconsider the decision when a key witness recanted their testimony.
That the Texas-based Cantu was convicted of murder is key to the New York-based Cantu's case, given the severity of the crime and the alleged emotional distress caused by a public figure intimating he had committed such an act.
Ivan Cantu 'suffered a very real trauma,' attorney says
The suit called Kardashian's post "clearly untrue, erroneous, unfounded, shocking, scandalous, degrading, disgraceful, and/or shameful" and demanded a jury trial to determine appropriate damages.
"Social media is a powerful force. It can be used for good: to spark social change, to warn of danger, and to foster relationships. But, when abused, social media can also inflict pain, suffering, and tragedy," Cantu's lawyer Greg Sobo shared in a statement to USA TODAY Monday.
"This litigation will demonstrate that Mr Cantu is a very private family man with two daughters," the statement continued. "At the time Kim Kardashian defamed his reputation, he was grieving a very private family loss. As a result of the Kardashian abuse, Mr. Cantu's privacy was destroyed at a most critical and sensitive time, and he has suffered very real trauma that will last a lifetime."
USA TODAY has reached out to Kardashian's representatives for comment.
Kim Kardashian faces lawsuit amid her own legal training
The suit comes amid Kardashian's nascent interest in entering the legal field.
The post in question is part of Kardashian's recent efforts to spotlight people she feels have been wrongfully convicted and lend her star power to cases on death row. The daughter of famous defense attorney Robert Kardashian, she passed California's First-Year Law Students' Exam in 2021 and has lobbied the Trump and Biden administrations on criminal justice issues.
In 2018, President Trump commuted the prison sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had served 22 years for drug trafficking and money laundering charges. She had received a life sentence despite the charges being her first criminal offenses, and Kardashian had championed the case to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.
Last April, Kardashian discussed criminal justice reform with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House in honor of Second Chance Month, which encourages building "meaningful second chances for people returning from incarceration." The Skims founder has also argued there were "abuse and injustices" in the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are serving life in prison for killing their parents in 1996 and are now making a bid for resentencing so they could be released on parole.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
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