Defamation of Character: The Case of Blac Chyna Vs The Kardashian Family

Introduction

Talking crap about someone is one thing, but straight up telling lies and spreading rumors that can ruin someone’s reputation is another. If a person makes up rumor about you and it starts to spread, and it’s starts to interfere with your life you can take them to court for Defamation of Character. Defamation of character is a false statement that harms a reputation. It is several different kinds of Defamation of character but in order to sue someone or several people what they said had to harm you in a way. According to Charles R. Gueli (2019), “Your chances of winning compensation for defamation of character claims depends on who you are, what was said about you, and how it was said.”

Angela Renee White also known as “Blac Chyna” is currently in the process of suing the Kardashian family. Blac Chyna claims that the Kardashian clan is the reasoning behind her reality TV show (Rob & Chyna) with Ex fiancé and also baby father Rob Kardashian being cancelled on the E! network. Keeping up with the Kardashians has been airing on the E! Network since 2007 and has the highest-ranking show on the whole network so this doesn’t seem so farfetched. Blac Chyna says that the Kardashians interfered with “Rob & Chyna’s” shooting so much that E! decided to cancel it all together. Blac Chyna says that the Kardashian family would attack her online to make her seem like a bad person and slut shame her.

If you don’t know what slut shaming is, it’s “stigmatize (a woman) for engaging in behavior judged to be promiscuous or sexually provocative”. I would just think that considering the Kardashian’s claim to fame is Kim Kardashian’s sex tape with singer/songwriter “Ray-J” they shouldn’t have room to slut shame anyone. Blac Chyna is also suing for Rob Kardashian because he posted graphic images of her (Blac Chyna) and said some nasty things on the internet. Also while going on his social media rant Rob K claimed that Blac Chyna was abusing drugs, alcohol, and also committing infidelity while in a relationship with him. Blac Chyna’s attorney Lisa Bloom spoke with Entertainment Tonight Live and said “It was one of the most successful new shows of the year that year that the production company and company announced there was going to be a season two,” Bloom said.

“And, of course financially it was very good for her. Then the Kardashians on their show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, were very open about the fact that they were joining together to kill the show because they didn’t like her.” As a follower of the Kardashian’s and Blac Chyna on social media I saw firsthand all the drama that was going on. The Kardashians hold a lot of power and them threatening to end their show or move to another network just because they didn’t want “Rob & Chyna” to air was a major move and they knew that ultimately the TV network would choose their family over Blac Chyna. That was a major hit to Blac Chyna’s career and her finances. All of this because the Kardashian’s were upset that Chyna left Rob back in 2016 after the birth of their daughter Dream Kardashian allegedly.

Blac Chyna vs the Kardashians

All of this has been going on since 2016 but now they finally have a court date. According to an article published by PAGE SIX “ Angela White, will face off in court against Robert Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Khloé Kardashian on Feb. 3, 2020, when a jury will hear her argument that the reality-TV family “unlawfully plotted” to end Chyna and Rob Kardashian’s E! reality show, “Rob & Chyna.” Also The judge granted Blac Chyna’s proposal compelling the E! network and Bunim Murray Productions, the production company behind the reality TV show, to produce documents relating to Season 2 of “Rob & Chyna.” This will finally come to an end in 2020 and hopefully they will be able to get along in the meantime. As per court reports, obtained by The Blast, Blac Chyna not only wants to sue the Kardashians but also wants Ryan Seacrest to be questioned under oath during a deposition as part of her lawsuit.

Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner were eventually removed from Blac Chyna’s lawsuit in January 2018 at the request of their attorney, Shawn Holley. The judge sided with the Kardashians, because he didn’t see any evidence leading to Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian interfering with Blac Chyna’s show being cancelled. The whole Kardashian family continues to deny all allegations of wrongdoing towards Blac Chyna and wants the whole suit thrown out.

In the recently recorded documents, Angela White also known as Blac Chyna claims that Ryan Seacrest who was the producer of her show does not want to be involved and she wants the court to demand him to come. She also wants all emails and text messages between Ryan Seacrest, Kylie Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian where the discussed Blac Chyna’s now cancelled reality tv show. Blac Chyna also wants all reports about the restoration of her show, records of gatherings between Seacrest, Kim, Khloe and Kylie about dropping her show from the network, and all information about where they came up with the idea of Kylie Jenner’s spinoff show 'Life of Kylie.'

Holley who is the Kardashian’s lawyer told Page Six “We will file a motion to dismiss Ms. White’s case at the appropriate time and look forward to the Court’s consideration of the evidence. Most importantly, Ms. White’s entertainment lawyer had negotiated a ‘kill fee’ which sought to pay her a large amount of money in the event that the second season of ‘Rob & Chyna’ did not go forward. Ms. White received that money and obviously understood that a second season wasn’t guaranteed to her. Taking Ryan Seacrest’s deposition—though attention-getting — won’t change these simple facts.”

Just to reiterate Blac Chyna is suing the Kardashian family for defamation of character. She says that the Kardashian ruined her public image by not only the revenge porn on the internet but by word of mouth. Publicly calling her names on social media and much more. Resulting in her show getting dropped from the E! Network and losing endorsements over the Kardashians running her name and brand into the dirt. Blac Chyna's main source of income is from being a public figure, so companies not wanting to work with her because word of mouth got around that she was maybe difficult to work with must be crucial to Chyna’s income. That alone would make me rule in favor of Blac Chyna because they’re “Stopping her bag” making it hard for her to continue her lifestyle but I don’t get to make that decision. Also there is a lot more to defamation of character that doesn’t necessarily have to do with someone’s money.

Defamation of character happens when somebody says something about you that isn’t true about you that causes you to hurt in some shape or form. That person had to have said that lie to someone other than you, either verbally, written, or pictures. With that being said, whatever was said about you must’ve been said as a fact instead of an opinion. Like if someone says “You look a serial killer” that’s just an opinion but if they go out and start telling people that you are a serial killer and people become afraid of you then that’s defamation of character.

There are commonly two sorts of defamation which are slander and libel. Slander is when someone just straight up says something that’s just not true. Libel is when someone writes something about you that’s untrue, like for example posting about them on social media. In order to sue and possibly win a defamation case you must have proof that what was said about you is completely false. Also you must be able to tell exactly who made up and spread this lie about you. The person who made up the lie had to had did it on purpose with bad intentions, they had to have told the lie about you to someone other than yourself. No matter if the statement was verbally or written. Lastly that lie had to have harmed you in some way, whether it was emotionally, financially, or etc. But you also have to show proof that whatever happened actually harmed you. You must be able to prove that other people heard, saw, or read that lie/rumor about you.

Blac Chyna’s defamation lawsuit isn't the first of its kind and it's not going to be the last. Actually their have been several cases that are similar to hers. For instance a woman by the name of Tina Vlijter went viral on YouTube, now she is known as “Hot Blond Tina” from the viral video “Hot Blonde Tina in Jail”. The originally footage was from truTV series ''Inside American Jail''. Tina Vlijter sued truTV, Langley Productions Inc. Her act was featured on the cable TV program and became a big hit on YouTube, where she is known as “Hot Blond Tina in Jail.”

She sued truTV, Langley Productions Inc, asserting that the crew exploited her by getting her to sign a agreement form when she was clearly too intoxicated to know what she was doing. Then she said that they edited the footage to make her seem like a very promiscuous woman and making the situation more than what it actually was. The footage showed Vlijter laughing, playing around, and playing around with one of the jail guards then looking into the camera provocatively and teasing like she was going to take her shirt off and flash her breast, all while being filmed intoxicated. Vlijter alleged that truTV and Turner Broadcasting Co. defamed her, depicted her in a bad light, and let the public have their way with her and mainly ruined her career and her relationship. The court documents didn't list what the victim did for work but on a job hunting site she described herself as an investor advisor. Which would mean that she was probably in the business professional world and they depicted her like she was a party girl on national television. Tina Vlijter’s attorney, Easton K. Harris, said that Tina admitted to being drunk, so drunk that she doesn’t remember ever signing a consent form allowing them use of her image for commercial purposes. The police asking and allowing her to sign a waiver while she was inebriated was completely unethical.

Vlijter was not by any means mindful that she had appeared on the program until November or December of 2008. Tina Vlijter wanted to let the viewers know not to believe everything they see because she thinks that they intended for to come off promiscuous that’s why they edited the way that they did. Which she thought the reason for this was to portray her as a slut and embarrass her as a whole. TruTV eventually took Tina’s episode from the “Naughty Girls” section of their website, but it was and still is accessible to find on the internet. The video went viral with over 8,500 views on YouTube, the video is published on several sites in different languages. Tina’s lawyer claimed that a lot of the men that came across Tina’s episode had made attempts to reach out to Tina making her very uncomfortable. Tina was in a light that she did not like nor want to be in. Tina started to not only get harassed online but it began to happen off the internet too. Men would harass her in the street, while she was out with her children, while she was hanging with her friends,etc.

With all that happening to the victim it started to harm her, she suffered from emotional and financial duress, and she had to live in fear of her children’s safety. Starting in June, Harris said, Vlijter requested truTV take off her episode from its site, and she additionally requested a duplicate of the waiver she so called agreed to.

According to Tina’s lawyer “the producers actions were malicious, outrageous and done with reckless disregard for the plaintiff, for which she should receive at least $30,000 in compensation plus unspecified punitive damages determined by a jury.”

Tina did end up reaching a settlement with Trutv for an undisclosed amount. So If Tina could reach a settlement maybe Blac Chyna’s story could end up similar.Blac Chyna is already seen as a sexual being/video vixen so the Rob Kardashians posting revenge porn of Blac Chyna probably made her the target to more perverted men. Blac Chyna is a single mother of two so it would be very unsafe for her to go out alone because men harass her. Also is Blac Chyna too a “Naughty Girl”? Could Blac Chyna still win the suit even though she is a self-proclaimed “slut”, Chyna attended Amber Rose’s annual slut walk which is a “a transnational movement calling for an end to rape culture, including victim blaming and slut shaming of sexual assault victims. Specifically, participants protest against explaining or excusing rape by referring to any aspect of a woman's appearance.” So Blac Chyna owning the fact that people view her as a “slut” already could hurt her chances of winning the suit against the Kardashians. Blac Chyna’s case in a way is a lot like Tina’s the only difference is Tina wasn’t a public figure and she did not want to be. Not only is Blac Chyna’s suit similar to Tina Vlijter’s but it’s also a lot like Steve Wynn’s a casino mogul.

Steve Wynn won a defamation lawsuit against Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis. The jury had ordered Joe Francis to pay $20 million to Steve Wynn for saying 'Wynn threatened to kill me,' Francis had said. 'He said he would hit me in the back of the head with a shovel and bury me in a hole in the desert.'

The jury thought that statements Joe had made against Steve Wynn were slanderous and Steve could win a lot of money if it was confirmed that Joe Francis had been lying. This whole case started because Joe Francis went to Steve Wynn’s casino and racked up a debt of $2 million dollars an Joe refused to pay his bill so Steve Wynn took him to court.

Before it was a defamation suit it was just a simple suit until Joe Francis stood in front of the judge and lied and said that Steve Wynn was sending him death threats. Then later Steve Wynn hit him with a defamation suit.

Joe Francis said that his then neighbor Quincy Jones the music artist, had showed him emails of Steve Wynn emailing him saying that he wanted Joe Francis dead. But when Quincy went to trial he said that, that situation never happened. Quincy Jones was one of the star witnesses. When asked 'Did you ever tell Joe Francis you had e-mails where Steve Wynn said he would hit him over the head with a shovel and bury him in the desert, or words to that effect?' Quincy Jones said 'Where are these e-mails?' 'I keep hearing about e-mails. I've never seen any.' The Jury ended up siding with Wynn because Francis’s comments about him sending death threats could have effected Steve Wynn’s casino business.

Started as just a lawsuit to have Joe Francis pay the $2 million he owed to the casino and Steve Wynn walked away $20 million dollars richer because of the defamation suit. I feel like if Blac Chyna studies this case she might learn something. Does she have witnesses to vouch for her? She could end up a couple million dollars richer if her trial goes this way. Also just how Joe Francis lied about the death threats could’ve ruined Steve’s casino business, The Kardashian’s comments and cyber bullying has and will hurt Blac Chyna’s business.

Blac Chyna has a brand called Lash that’s losing sales because of Blac Chyna’s image now. Nobody wants to use a brand of a person that is labeled a slut and a terrible person. After reading this case I feel like Blac Chyna would have a good chance of winning the lawsuit, not saying she will walk away with $20 million dollars but she could walk away with something. Another case relating to Blac Chyna’s is Emma Husar.

Emma Husar sued the Blog Buzzfeed and another journalist over posts her allegedly bullying and sexually harassing someone. She claimed to had been slut shamed by Buzzfeed articles and accused of bullying staff members. Also one of blog posts said that Emma Husar flashed her body to Jason Clare which both Jason and Emma deny ever happened. Emma Husar said that all these rumors and blog posts about her literally made her sick. Emma Husar claimed that ,“They went ahead and published their slut-shaming story knowing with full intent that it would go viral,” “They didn’t give me any notice in advance. They didn’t give me the opportunity to seek release from my confidentiality obligations so that I could respond.”

After further investigating they found out that Emma Husar did in fact treat her staff poorly but they found no truth in the claim that she flashed or sexually harassed someone on her staff. With this scandal being in the news Emma Husar had decided not to contest in the next election. Emma did not win the suit because they did find out that she was bullying the staff. Blac Chyna’s case could definitely go this way. Maybe some of the things the Kardashians said about Blac Chyna are true. If that’s the case then the whole suit will probably be thrown out.

Conclusion

After researching and learning how the verdicts are usually not in the favor of the person filing the defamation suit, I think that Angela White (Blac Chyna) has a very slim chance of winning. She could end up like Steve Wynn and walk out of there with $20 million but let's be realistic here. A lot of celebrities sue for defamation but very few actually win. Or most likely Just have the case thrown out like Emma Husar and she just except her lost with her show being cancelled. Blac Chyna just being a hard person to work with could have caused her to lose her reality show and endorsements from companies that wanted to work with her. And if that’s not the case and the Kardashians did interfere with her show being cancelled then I hope justice is served.