Kardashians Request Blac Chyna Cover Over $390,000 in Defamation Trial Legal Fees
Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and Kylie Jenner filed paperwork through their attorney to request the money Blac Chyna owes them, following the $100 million defamation and contract interference lawsuit that she lost.
According to documents obtained by Rolling Stone, the family is seeking over $390,000 in legal fees that the family expensed throughout the two-week trial. (In May, a Los Angeles jury found the Kardashian-Jenner women owed no damages to Chyna.)
The requested costs on the lower end cover filing and motion fees, jury fees, service of process, fees for electronic filing, and fees for hosting electronic documents. On the higher end, The Kardashian-Jenners’ attorney, Michael G. Rhodes, says the Kardashians racked up over $63,000 in deposition costs, nearly $20,000 in court reporter fees, and a whopping $184,000 in models, enlargements, and photocopies of exhibits. An additional $96,000 of the total costs cover miscellaneous charges. The request notably excludes any attorney fees.
Lynne Ciani, lawyer to Chyna, whose legal name is Angela White, said in a statement that Jenner’s attempt to “financially ruin” her client will not work. “Under California law, costs are awarded to defendants only when they are without fault. In this case, a Los Angeles jury reached a verdict that defendant Kris Jenner falsely claimed that ‘Chyna beat the shit out of Rob’s face’ and that defendant Kylie Jenner falsely claimed that Chyna would ‘proceed with using and physically abusing my brother.’ The same Los Angeles jury reached a verdict that defendants Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner did not act reasonably and in good faith to protect their own economic interests in the Rob & Chyna show.
“Angela White’s objectives in the litigation were to prove that Kris and Kylie Jenner’s statements were false and that all four defendants did not act reasonably and in good faith regarding Season Two of Rob & Chyna,” Ciani continued. “Because Ms. White achieved these litigation objectives, defendants cannot be considered ‘prevailing parties’ under California law and they cannot recover their exorbitant litigation costs of $391,000 from Ms. White.”
Following the conclusion of the trial – which decided Kris, Khloé, and Kylie had “reasonable grounds” to believe the allegedly defamatory statements they made about Chyna – Ciani accused Judge Gregory Alarcon of being “undeniably hostile and extremely biased.”
Rhodes swiftly refuted the claim and instead accused Chyna of trying to “make a scapegoat of Judge Alarcon” after losing the suit, according to court documents. He noted the accusations of bias to be “frivolous, dishonest, and deserving of sanctions.”
This post was updated on June 14 at 9:48 p.m. ET to include Chyna’s response via her attorney Lynne Ciani to the Jenner-Kardashian family seeking more than $390,000 in legal fees
