Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner Are Suing Ray J for Defamation
Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner are suing Ray J (real name William Ray Norwood Jr.) for defamation after he claimed they were the targets of a federal racketeering investigation. The duo filed their suit on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to Rolling Stone.
In their complaint, the reality stars claim that Norwood, who appeared in Kardashian’s infamous 2007 sex tape, has been “unable to accept the end of his fleeting relationship” with the Skims founder and has “repeatedly sought to attach himself to [their] names and exploit their prominence for personal gain.” The complaint also characterized Ray J’s claims as “part of a broader campaign of harassment designed to generate publicity for his flailing career and satisfy his acknowledged animosity toward the Kardashian family.”
Norwood has repeatedly referred to an alleged racketeering case against the Kardashians. In May, he appeared in the Tubi documentary TMZ Presents: United States v. Sean Combs: Inside the Diddy Trial and said that “racketeering charges against the Kardashians would be appropriate.” “If you told me that the Kardashians were being charged for racketeering, I might believe it,” he added.
Norwood didn’t stop there. On a livestream last week, he said, “The federal RICO I’m about to drop on Kris and Kim is about to be crazy.” He continued, “Anybody that is cool with Kim, they need to tell her now, the Feds is coming. There’s nothing I can do about it … It’s worse than Diddy.” Those comments were picked up by TMZ, which the Kardashians claim led to them being “at the center of a media storm speculating as to their alleged criminal behavior.”
“Ray J’s public statements are blatantly false,” the complaint states. “No such federal investigation exists; no law enforcement agency has initiated any criminal proceedings or investigations related to racketeering charges against Ms. Kardashian or Ms. Jenner; and no credible evidence whatsoever supports these inflammatory allegations.”
A representative for Norwood did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the singer himself told TMZ, “I will not be silenced.”
“Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian have never brought a defamation claim before nor have they been distracted by noise,” Kardashian attorney Alex Spiro said in a statement to The Cut. “But this false and serious allegation left no choice.”
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