The internet is abuzz after Rob Kardashian posted (and then deleted) nude photos of Blac Chyna on Instagram. Chyna responded with an also-deleted Snapchat post, alleging that Kardashian beat on her. Wow, what a mess. So, could Kardashian be in legal trouble?
Some experts believe this could be a clear violation of the California revenge porn law. Kardashian apparently shared a screenshot of a text convo in which you can see Chyna’s genitals.
“This is from Chyna yesterday to me,” he put in the instagram. “I never been so disrespected in my life. I just bought her 250K of jewelry yesterday. This woman is so disrespectful and I don’t care.”
In 2013, the California legislature added so called “revenge porn” to the list of computer crimes.
Here’s what California’s law says:
(4) (A) A person who intentionally distributes the image of the intimate body part or parts of another identifiable person, or an image of the person depicted engaged in an act of sexual intercourse, sodomy, oral copulation, sexual penetration, or an image of masturbation by the person depicted or in which the person depicted participates, under circumstances in which the persons agree or understand that the image shall remain private, the person distributing the image knows or should know that distribution of the image will cause serious emotional distress, and the person depicted suffers that distress
“Revenge porn is illegal in CA and it certainly appears to me that Rob has violated this criminal law,” California based attorney Lisa Bloom told the New York Daily News.
In this case, it appears that Rob distributed the image intentionally. The picture was definitely an intimate body part. Chyna would likely argue that the two had an implicit understanding that the image “shall remain private,” and Rob probably thought or knew that it would cause serious emotional distress.
But there is a little wrinkle as reported by TMZ. Chyna could have a hard time proving emotional distress because she reportedly “liked” the picture on Instagram.
“Because they are such prolific public figures the standard is considerably higher than between two private citizens,” Mark Anthony Raimondo, a California criminal defense attorney, told LawNewz.com. Romano added that there is always a possibility for civil action but Chyna would have to prove emotional distress.
There is no doubt that you haven’t heard the end of this case.
[image via EONLINE screengrab]