Why is Ivan Cantu suing Kim Kardashian? Lawsuit over death row inmate's mistaken identity explored
Kim Kardashian is now facing a defamation lawsuit after posting a picture of a New York man, Ivan A. Cantu, on her social media and misidentifying him as a death row inmate convicted of a double murder in Texas. Cantu's lawyer filed the suit in Los Angeles on Thursday, February 20, alleging that Kardashian humiliated him in public.
They further alleged that her post caused him emotional distress when, on February 26, 2024, she shared his name and photo with her 350 million followers without his permission. They further said that her post had reportedly caused him to be publicly ashamed, and mocked.
This happened after Kardashian uploaded the photo in February 2024 asking her fans to sign a petition to revoke the execution date of Ivan Cantu, a man she felt had been wrongly convicted. However, she mistakenly uploaded a picture of the wrong Ivan Cantu, the New York-based project manager.
According to Rolling Stone, the lawsuit stated:
“Kardashian’s statement was false because Cantu was residing in the state of New York and was not in the state of Texas, had not committed a crime and was not about to be executed… Kardashian’s statement that Cantu was on death row in the state of Texas for committing murder was untrue and demonstrably false.”
Meanwhile, the real Cantu was put to death on February 28, 2024, amid the allegations of wrongful conviction.
Kim Kardashian is now facing a lawsuit
A Morgan Stanley employee is now suing Kim Kardashian for defamation after she misidentified him as a double murderer on death row.
The prisoner she intended to post about was found guilty of killing his cousin and his cousin's fiancé in Dallas by shooting. As per The Daily Mails’ February 21 report, her now-deleted Instagram post read:
“The state will execute Ivan Cantu in 2 days. Please sign the petition to demand that Collin County DA Greg Willis request to withdraw the execution date.”
According to the New York project manager, Kim Kardashian's post damaged his reputation and gave him nightmares and emotional pain. The litigation is proceeding even after the post was removed.
Greg Sobo, Cantu's lawyer, claimed in the lawsuit that she had more than 350 million Instagram followers at the time of the defamatory post to her story. His lawsuit went on to say:
“Kardashian published and disseminated the false information without privilege or authorization, and her acts were intentional, negligent, reckless, and/or violated standards of ethics and decency… Kardashian’s actions, and that of her employees or agents… were malicious, oppressive and fraudulent, warranting the imposition of punitive damages.”
As per the same lawsuit, Cantu further alleged that the photo blunder led him to suffer from misleading light and breach of privacy:
“Emotional and mental anguish, psychological harm, embarrassment, anxiety, loss of sleep, nightmares, post-traumatic stress, headaches, need for medical care, need for emotional counseling and loss of reputation.”
The attorney further said that he was now requesting that the trial determine the exact amount of damages. A copy of Kim Kardashian's same Instagram post was also used as evidence in the lawsuit.
According to TMZ, Michael Rhodes, Kim Kardashian's attorney, stated:
“It 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. 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.”
Meanwhile, the actual Ivan Cantu insisted on his innocence for more than 20 years before his execution on February 28, 2024.