The lawyers have made their opening statements, and the high-profile civil trial between Blac Chyna and the KarJenner family is off and running.
On Tuesday, Kardashian family attorney Michael Rhodes took to court to tell the jury the famous fam’s side of the story, claiming that Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner “acted to intervene” in brother Rob Kardashian‘s relationship with Chyna in 2016 because they were worried about his safety.
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Rhodes’ opening statement in the case centered on Chyna — real name Angela White — and her supposed desire to become “one of” the world-famous reality TV moguls. The attorney opened his part of the case by telling the jury:
“Miss White wanted something. She wanted to be one of them… She wanted that name. The evidence is going to show you that Miss White would say or do anything to be part of this family.”
One of the main issues in the case is how the KarJenner fam allegedly cut Chyna out of their reality TV empire by killing her spin-off show prematurely, leaving her on the outside looking in as far as brand deals and big money sponsorships were concerned.
According to Rhodes, 35-year-old Rob and his then-partner got into a huge fight at Kylie’s house on the day the second season of their reality show Rob & Chyna was announced, in December 2016. Things got so bad between Rob and the 33-year-old woman, that Kris’ boyfriend Corey Gamble allegedly had to physically step in to keep things from turning too violent.
Rhodes explained in his opening statement that Gamble supposedly told Rob to get into his car and drive away. As Rob made the move to do so, the lawyer claimed Chyna allegedly threw a chair at his car. Rhodes further told jurors that throughout the trial, they were going to hear testimony about Chyna supposedly wrapping a phone cord around Rob’s neck, and another instance where she allegedly “pointed a gun at his head.”
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The KarJenner family attorney argued that following these acts, Chyna got a restraining order against Rob, making it illegal for them to be in the same room together. Thus, the network was then forced to stop filming the ill-fated reality venture. From there, Rhodes claimed in court, the relationship between the Arthur George founder and his baby momma “went off the rails,” and necessitated the show nix its second season.
The attorney said:
“[Chyna] said we killed the show because we are bad people … but look at what’s going on behind the camera. The family was on board with what was proposed … if they could work on their relationship. But it couldn’t get fixed.”
And he later added:
“This relationship was fraught with problems and the network was very worried. [Kardashian family members] were acting against their own financial interest to protect someone they loved.”
Chyna’s lawyer, Lynne Ciani, countered in her opening argument that Kris and her daughters “set out to have Rob & Chyna canceled” despite Rob’s own apparent wishes that he “wanted it to keep going.” Ciani claimed that the Calabasas-based family took specific steps to get Rob & Chyna pulled from E!, even despite having a filming schedule for the second season ready to go. Ciani further argued that Chyna’s side will enter text messages into evidence during the trial, including one that was supposedly sent from Kris to the showrunner for Rob & Chyna which allegedly had a simple message about Dream Kardashian‘s momma:
“Take her off the show.”
Ciani further explained the context of that alleged text message during her opening statement:
“Chyna wanted to bring the ‘real’ back into reality TV and a real relationship has its ups and downs. Kris Jenner falsely told them [executives and producers] that Chyna beat the s**t out of Rob’s face and asked to take her off the show.”
Whoa!
Because Kris and the girls supposedly pulled the program themselves, Ciani claimed in court that Chyna “lost out on the potential to earn millions of dollars” from public appearances, promotional events, and social media posts that would have followed the series run. Now, the model and public personality is suing the A-list family for more than $40 million for the loss of earnings tied to the show, and another $60 million in future earnings.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
[Image via E!/YouTube]
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