Topics: Kim Kardashian, Social Media, Celebrity, Crime, Court, Film and TV, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Money, New York, Los Angeles, Texas, Instagram
Kim Kardashian is being sued by an innocent man who she incorrectly called a death row inmate.
The 44-year-old Keeping Up With the Kardashians star is being sued for defamation and giving a man 'nightmares' after blasting his name and photo on Instagram with a caption that suggested he was a death row inmate who had been convicted of a double murder.
According to legal documents seen by Rolling Stone, the damning social media post uploaded by Kardashian read: "The state will execute Ivan Cantu in 2 days. Please sign the petition to demand that Collin County DA Greg Willis request to withdraw the execution date.”
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The image she used was of an innocent man with the same name, 60-year-old project manager Ivan A. Cantu, from Westchester in New York.
Although the mom-of-four claims it was a genuine mistake, Cantu's legal complaint says the post caused him severe emotional distress, humiliation, and a damaged his reputation.
His attorney alleges Kardashian had millions of followers at the time of the post, that was made on February 26, 2024.
Meanwhile, the man she was meant to post, Ivan Cantu, 50, from Texas, was convicted of gunning down his cousin and his cousin's fiancé in Dallas.
Although the inmate protested his innocence for more than 20 years, he died by lethal injection on February 28.
The reality TV star and daughter of famous lawyer Robert Kardashian is passionate about prison reform and was seemingly attempting to highlight the inmate's plight and his impending execution before the mix-up.
The legal action filed on Thursday (February 20) in Los Angeles reads: "Kardashian’s statement was false because Cantu was residing in the state of New York and was not in the state of Texas, had not committed a crime and was not about to be executed.
"Kardashian’s statement that Cantu was on death row in the state of Texas for committing murder was untrue and demonstrably false."
After Kardashian's post, Cantu also tried to calm the situation by posting on his own Facebook page, writing: "To all my friends and family, I am not getting executed, some idiot who runs @kimkardashian used my picture of Ivan 'Abner' Cantu."
But Michael Rhoes, Kardashian's lawyer, maintains that the blunder was an innocent error.
He said: "It was a simple mistake of using the public photo of another man with the same name to promote Kim’s longstanding commitment to the cause of criminal justice reform."
Rhoes said the image was taken down 'almost immediately' and hopes that a settlement can be reached without litigation.
But Cantu's attorney Greg Sobo argues there are no greater damages to someone's reputation than painting them out to be a murderer.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Sobo said: "Social media is too often abused to bully the innocent, incite harm, and injure our communities.
"Just like those who cause physical harm should be held accountable, those who cause injuries to innocent victims through social media must also be held responsible. If anyone should know the power of social media, it is Ms. Kim Kardashian."
He added that the Instagram post his client to 'hatred, contempt, ridicule and obloquy' by associating him with the heinous crime.
The legal action goes on to accuse Kardashian of invasion of privacy and false light as Cantu claims the photo blunder caused him "emotional and mental anguish, psychological harm, embarrassment, anxiety, loss of sleep, nightmares, post-traumatic stress, headaches, need for medical care, need for emotional counseling and loss of reputation."
It is unclear how much he is seeking in damages but as Forbes puts Kardashian's net worth at $1.7 billion, he could be seeking a large sum.
UNILAD has reached out to Kim Kardashian's representatives for comment.
