Last February, Kim Kardashian shared a photo of Ivan Cantu on social media, saying he was a death row inmate and that state of Texas would execute him in two days. Neither were true.
The Cantu shared in the photo is a resident of Westchester, N.Y., and has not been sentenced to death for double murder.
He is, however, very angry about the mix-up and suing the star for defamation, according to an unfiled civil complaint submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday. In the complaint, Cantu lambastes Kardashian for sharing an unauthorized photo of his face with her more than 350 million Instagram followers, saying the incident has caused him severe mental and emotional trauma.
Cantu has the same name as the Texas death row inmate who was put to death with a lethal injection two days after Kardashian’s post.
The late Cantu was convicted of the murders of his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée in 2000. He insisted upon his innocence until his death.
Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu was put to death by lethal injection on Feb. 28, 2024.
(Texas Department of Criminal Justice )
Kardashian’s lawyer Michael Rhodes defended the post as “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 Instagram post contains a photo of the incorrect Cantu and a link to a petition demanding the Collin County district attorney withdraw the execution date.
“The image was taken down almost immediately once the error was discovered,” Rhodes said in a statement to The Times. “We’d prefer to solve this without litigation, but of course will defend Kim as needed.”
Cantu says that although the post was removed, it still caused severe damage to his reputation and exposed him to hate and contempt by falsely identifying him as a double murderer.
“Cantu suffered serious emotional damage and injury in the form of emotional and mental anguish, psychological harm, embarrassment, anxiety, loss of sleep, nightmares, post-traumatic stress, headaches, need for medical care and emotional counseling,” the complaint states.
He is suing Kardashian for libel, slander, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, negligence and representing him in false light. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined in court.
“Kardashian published and disseminated false information without privilege or authorization, and her acts were intentional, negligent, reckless and/or violated standards of ethics and decency,” the complaint states.
Kardashian, who is studying to become a lawyer, began her activism in criminal justice around 2017 when she learned about the case of Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. In 2018, the celbrity successfully lobbied then-President Trump to grant Johnson clemency.
She has since continued to advocate on inmates’ behalf, including for the Menendez brothers, who she believes should be resentenced and released.
