In a turn of events that may be good for business but bad for family relations, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Kris Jenner were in court today as testimony began in Blac Chyna’s lawsuit against them. The lawsuit, brought in November 2017, alleges defamation and interference with prospective economic advantage.
Specifically, Chyna is claiming that the Jenner-Kardashians lied about Chyna assaulting Rob Kardashian when speaking to E! executives in order to scuttle a second season of Rob & Chyna, the 2016 reality show that featured the Kardashian scion and his fiancée, who were about to have a baby together. A second season was announced on December 17, 2016, but never aired after the couple split in early 2017.
Defense attorney Michael G. Rhodes said E! chose not to go forward with the second season of Rob & Chyna because the Chyna-Rob Kardashian relationship went “off the rails,” resulting in Chyna assaulting Rob Kardashian in Kylie Jenner’s Hidden Hills home in December 2016, including putting a phone cord around his neck and pointing a gun — likely unloaded — at his head.
In July 2017, Chyna asked for and received a temporary restraining order against her former fiancé, making it all but impossible for the show to proceed, according to Rhodes.
All attempts by E! executives to mend the relationship and have the couple go to a retreat so the show could continue were unfruitful, said Rhodes. While the Kardashians and Jenners may have said some things that were unflattering to Chyna, he maintained they were rightfully upset about what they believed she had done to their brother and son. The four acted to “protect someone they loved,” according to Rhodes.
The Kardashian lawyer maintained — and the prosecution disputes — that Chyna willingly accepted $100,000 to allow the second season of Rob & Chyna to be terminated even after filming had begun.
The airing of dirty laundry in court comes just one week after the Kardashian clan launched the newest show documenting their lives, The Kardashians, on Hulu. While some of the drama between Rob Kardashian and his former fiancée was featured in the couple’s eponymous show and also E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians, it is unclear how much of the current tumult will appear on Hulu.
If there is one certainty in the world of reality TV, however, it is that all publicity is good publicity.
Blac Chyna testified today that Rob Kardashian’s jealousy led to an argument and false allegations she physically abused him one night in late 2016
Kardashian sued Chyna in September 2017, alleging she tried to strangle him with a phone charging cord and twice pointed a gun at his head, threatening to kill him one night. Kardashian, 34, dropped the case in February, saying he was doing so for the sake of the former couple’s daughter.
Chyna testified today that Rob owned the gun and that, one night in December 2016, she took it from a dresser. Although she said it was unloaded, she did not say if she pointed it at Kardashian. She admitted that she handled the weapon, but claimed she was “being silly” while on FaceTime with some of Rob Kardashian’s friends and that no one was alarmed by her actions with the weapon.
Chyna also implied she did not want to harm her fiancé with the phone cord, which she said she jokingly placing around his neck.
Chyna said her contract for the 2016 reality show paid her $92,500 for each of the six episodes and that her child [from a previous relationship] was also paid for appearing. She said she and Rob Kardashian celebrated when they found out that the way was cleared for a second season of the show, although defense attorney Michael G.
Rhodes said during opening statements that the approval was only preliminary.
Kim Kardashian, sitting in the front row of the courtroom with her mother and two sisters, took notes on a yellow legal pad while listening to Chyna’s testimony.
In February 2020, Judge Randolph M. Hammock severed from the current suit a revenge porn claim Chyna has made against Rob Kardashian. He directed that it be tried separately. The claim involves what Chyna’s court papers call “humiliating and degrading” photos that Rob Kardashian allegedly posted of Chyna in July 2017. A separate jury will hear that case after the conclusion of the current proceedings.
City News Service contributed to this report.
