Kim Kardashian and Ray J sex tape leaked sales messages shows how much they initially banked
The pair's 2007 tape propelled Kim into stardom.
An email leak has revealed just how much Kim Kardashian and rapper Ray J reportedly made from their infamous sex tape – and it's not exactly small change.
The 2007 tape in question was previously thought to have been leaked by accident, but that's a narrative that Ray J now disputes.
According to the hip hop star, leaking the tape was an intentional act that the Kardashian clan was in full knowledge of.
Either way, what is clear in hindsight is that both he and Kim K apparently made some serious money from the tape, which was sold to Vivid Entertainment and released in March 2007.
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Newly obtained emails and records by TMZ are said to show the extent of the profits that were made on sales numbers alone.
According to their records, more than $1 million was made during the first week of its release, with the vast majority coming via DVD sales.
One email, which TMZ claims is from Vivid Entertainment chief Steve Hirsch, informs Kardashian that the tape made $1.4 million in revenue between the release date and 1 May that year.
TMZ's email trail does a great deal to undo the previous narrative that Ray J released the tape unilaterally and against the will of Kardashian herself. Though it's said she didn't want to release the tape at all, filing a lawsuit to stop it, the case was later dismissed just a few days before the sales figures came through from Vivid.
Indeed, after Kardashian filed a lawsuit against Vivid in February 2007, she'd go on to receive sales numbers directly from the company just a few months later.
Ray J said over the weekend that Kardashian actually signed on from the get-go, and even produced his contract with a list of the sex tapes.
The 41-year-old adds that the original deal, for which he signed a contract, saw him and Kim each receive $400,000, as well as 12.5 percent of any profits.
Hirsch, meanwhile, has openly talked about the deal in the past, calling it a 'difficult deal to get done' due to Kim's apparent reluctance for it to be released.
The former Vivid boss even insisted that Kris Jenner, mother of Kim, wasn't involved in the 'plan' to leak the tape – which Ray J strongly counters.
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Topics: Film and TV, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim Kardashian, Music, Celebrity
Tom Fenton