Kim Kardashian testifies, causes stir at Blac Chyna trial
Kim Kardashian testified Tuesday that she had no memory of making any attempt to kill the reality show that starred her brother Rob Kardashian and his former fiancée Blac Chyna. But she acknowledged demanding that Chyna be kept off of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" after hearing Chyna had abused her brother.
"I will not go into a toxic work environment," Kardashian said of her refusal to work with Chyna. "On my own show, I have the power to do that."
Kardashian took the stand for an hour in a Los Angeles courtroom in a civil trial in which Chyna, whose real name is Angela White, claims the four socialites made false statements about her, causing her to lose considerable money from the cancellation of the "Rob & Chyna" show -- a reality series the model appeared in with former fiancé Rob Kardashian.
The lawsuit alleges defamation and interference with prospective economic advantage.
In her suit brought in November 2017, Chyna maintains that E! would have gone forward with a second season of "Rob & Chyna" but for the allegedly false statements made against her by the Kardashian and Jenner women to network representatives in late 2016 and early 2017.
"Although Kris Jenner was the ringleader, her three daughters all played a role in getting Chyna's show canceled, to their immense financial benefit," Blac Chyna's attorney, Lynne Ciani, said in a statement last week ahead of the trial. "And they knew they did not have the legal right to cancel Chyna's show: All four defendants carried out their illegal activity in secret and repeatedly lied to Chyna's face."
Related: Kardashian/Jenner family to testify live in defamation trial of Blac Chyna
Kardashian's testimony was mostly unremarkable — she spent much of it saying "I don't remember" — but as the biggest star by far to testify in a trial full of stars, she caused a stir when she walked from the gallery to the witness stand wearing a dark gray pinstriped suit with white sneakers. The moment she stepped down, several reporters dashed from the courtroom to file stories.
Chyna's attorney Lynne Ciani showed Kardashian a series of text messages from late 2016 and early 2017 with Kardashian's name attached.
In every case, Kardashian said she had no memory of sending them, though she didn't deny their likely legitimacy.
"I don't remember text messages that I sent this morning," Kardashian said.
In response to viewing one text exchange, a long conversation with a producer from production company Bunim Murray, which produced both shows, Kardashian acknowledged "this definitely sounds like something I would say."
In it, she expressed anger that Chyna might still be filmed for "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," which Chyna occasionally appeared on along with her own show.
"I think we all need to take a break from filming at this point until we figure out what's going on. She is not going to be on our show," the text read. "So if you guys are going to film with Rob and Chyna, and then you are going to lose the Kardashians and Jenners."
Related: Kardashians in court: Prospective jurors voice opinions in Blac Chyna defamation case
The text exchange includes several seemingly damning demands surrounding Chyna being filmed for "her" show, but Kardashian insisted that was a quirk of technology.
"This is clearly voice dictated, as is everything I text that's so long, and it's sometimes rendering 'our' as 'her," Kardashian testified. "I would never refer to her show as 'her' show, I would say 'Rob's show' since it's a spin-off of 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians.' "
She added that the recipient, Amanda Weinstein, did not work on "Rob & Chyna."
Kim Kardashian said the text exchange showed that she and her family had no power over what the producers and the network ultimately decided about the shows.
"No one listens to us, no one respects us," one text message reads.
What they could do was withhold their own participation in the case of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
"I have a right as a cast member to say we really need a break," Kardashian testified.
Much of the trial now in its seventh day, including the testimony of Kardashian's mother, Kris Jenner, and sister Kylie Jenner, has focused on a fight between Chyna and Rob Kardashian on Dec. 15, 2016, which led to the couple's eventual breakup and their show's cancellation.
Ciani asked Kardashian if she saw any injuries on her brother that day.
"I just remember in that moment him being super emotional, and it's really all such a blur, Kardashian said. "I remember him being really red, but I don't remember anything very specific, just him looking puffy and red."
Asked whether and how she had told the shows' producers or anyone from the E! network about Chyna attacking her brother, she said she doesn't remember, but she acknowledged that it likely came up in meetings about "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
"Typically it would be every family member saying what they felt and what they were going through, and saying if we had photo shoots or things we wanted to schedule for filming," she said. "I would want to be honest in my concern for my brother. But I'm not very sure on where or when and how that would have occurred."
Repeatedly asked whether she directed her sisters to tell executives and producers about the attack, which the lawsuit alleges, Kardashian said she had no recollection of doing that, eventually growing mildly angry with Ciani but remaining composed.
"I know you want my answer to change," Kardashian said. "You've asked the same question like four times, I wish I had a better answer for you, but I just don't remember."
Asked specifically if she had directed Kylie Jenner to send an email on the issue, Kardashian replied, "I do not control my sisters' lives, and I do not have conversations with them before they send emails."
The Kardashians' attorney, David G. Rhodes, declined to cross-examine her, but he intends to put her back on the stand when he presents the defense case, as he plans to do with all the Kardashian witnesses.
Kylie Jenner testified Monday that her brother told her in mid-December 2016 that during an argument with his then-fiancee, Blac Chyna, the woman held a gun to his head, hit him with a 6- foot pole and pulled a phone cord around his neck while he played video games.
In February 2020, Judge Randolph M. Hammock severed from the current suit Chyna's revenge porn claim against Rob Kardashian and directed that it be tried separately. The claim involves what Chyna's court papers call "humiliating and degrading" photos that Rob Kardashian allegedly posted of Chyna in July 2017. A separate jury will hear that case after the conclusion of the current proceedings.
