By Sandy Wells
KABC News
Kim Kardashian West is suing MediaTakeOut.com for saying she faked the robbery of $10 million worth of her own jewelry from her Paris apartment. KABC Legal Analyst Royal Oakes says the idea that she would ever do such a thing as a publicity stunt is preposterous.
“That would just so jeopardize her whole career. Let’s face it, if people think she’s a fraud, they’re going to walk away from her. It’s not like they’re going to say, ‘Well, she sings so great, I’ going to still listen to her records…’ The only thing she has is a connection with people, in terms of fashion and perfumes and image and so on. I mean who knows what the whole truth of it is. But I’m not surprised she’s lawyer-ed up.”
But it won’t be a easy fight.
“When you’re a public figure and a celebrity, it’s harder for a you to prove libel. She has an extra job. She has to show that the publication printed the story with actual malice, that they knew that the claim was false or they acted with a reckless disregard for the truth.”
Oakes says some media outlets are willing to put up with the heat of being sued because they love the publicity.
There’s also a risk for Kardashian-West that the lawsuit could backfire, because now it’s not just the insurance company looking into her claim.
“She’s got another person looking into the issue. They’ve got to defend themselves. This media outlet is going to be trying to do whatever they can to establish that they had some basis for making this allegation.”
Oakes was on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning Show with Doug McIntyre and Terri-Rae Elmer.
