Kim Kardashian is being sued for incorrectly identifying a New York man as a Texas man on death row.
The reality star’s attorney chalked it up as a “simple mistake,” but the pending lawsuit claims the harm was real.
Kardashian shared a social media post with her 358 million followers to bring attention to the case of Ivan Cantu, a death row inmate who was convicted of murdering his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée in 2000. He was sentenced to death after being found guilty in 2001 and was executed on February 28, 2024.
However, according to NBC News, the celeb erroneously used an image of a man with the same name currently living in Westchester, New York.
The original post shows a black-and-white photo of the wrong 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.
A civil complaint alleging “hatred, contempt, and/or ridicule” was filed Thursday with the Los Angeles Superior Court.
“Kardashian published and disseminated false information about Cantu that was clearly untrue, erroneous, unfounded, shocking, scandalous, degrading, disgraceful, and/or shameful,” it says, claiming that Cantu has since experienced emotional damage, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and “loss of reputation.”
He is suing for libel, slander, emotional distress, and invasion of privacy, representing him in a false light and negligence, the outlet noted, and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Cantu’s lawyer, Greg Sobo, issued a statement blaming social media for causing harm to his client.
“For too long, we have seen social media cause devastating injuries to innocent victims,” the attorney said in a statement, per USA Today. “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.”
“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,” Sobo added, mentioning they had reached out to the celebrity’s team before filing the lawsuit.
“The image was taken down almost immediately once the error was discovered,” Kardashian’s attorney Michael Rhodes said in a statement. He said he would prefer to settle out of court but would defend his client at trial if necessary.