Entrepreneur and aspiring lawyer Kim Kardashian is facing a lawsuit after a New York man accused the celebrity of sharing his photograph with millions of her followers last year, incorrectly identifying him as a Texas death row inmate who had the same name.
Kardashian occasionally uses her platform to bring national attention to death row or life sentence inmates such as the Menendez brothers. She attempted to do so with convicted murderer Ivan Cantu last year but failed to use the correct picture, according to a lawsuit obtained by HuffPost.
Cantu was convicted in 2001 for the fatal shooting of his 27-year-old cousin and the cousin’s 21-year-old fiancée after prosecutors cited evidence of bloody clothing found in Cantu’s trash can and presented crucial witness testimonies against him, The Texas Tribune reported. A campaign was launched to urge the Republican state to reconsider Cantu’s execution, citing new evidence that suggests witnesses in the trial gave false testimony.
On Feb. 26, 2024, Kardashian’s Instagram account posted a black-and-white photo of a man with the caption, “The state will execute Ivan Cantu In 2 days,” according to the lawsuit. The post asked her millions of followers to sign a petition to withdraw the execution date; Cantu died by lethal injection two days after Kardashian’s post.
However, Kardashian’s account did not post a photo of the Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu, but instead an image of a New York man with the same name. At the time of her post, he was “grieving a very private family loss,” his attorney, Greg Sobo, told HuffPost in a statement, describing his client as a “very private family man with two [children].”
“Kim Kardashian took his name, his picture, and his reputation, and accused him of being a convicted murderer to her over 350 million followers,” Sobo said.
Sobo told HuffPost that his client’s “privacy was destroyed at a most critical and sensitive time” and “has suffered very real trauma that will last a lifetime.” His client filed a lawsuit against the celebrity last week, accusing her of defamation, libel, slander, emotional distress, invasion of privacy, representing him in false light and negligence.
The Cantu who is suing Kardashian alleged he suffered serious emotional damages, as well as a loss of reputation, following the social media post, according to the lawsuit. He said the post exposed him to hatred, contempt and ridicule because it accused him of committing a serious crime.
Michael Rhodes, an attorney for Kardashian, told HuffPost in an emailed statement that the error 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.”
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He added, “The image was taken down almost immediately once the error was discovered. We’d prefer to solve this without litigation, but of course will defend Kim as needed.”
However, Sobo told HuffPost his firm had made several attempts to contact Kardashian and her legal team before resorting to litigation but were ignored.
“Social media is a powerful force. It can be used for good: to spark social change, to warn of danger, and to foster relationships. But, when abused, social media can also inflict pain, suffering, and tragedy,” Sobo said, adding, “If anyone knows the power of social media, it is Kim Kardashian. Social media helped fuel her fame.”