Kim Kardashian sued for Instagram blunder that wrongly labeled man as death row inmate

Reality TV royalty Kim Kardashian is facing legal heat despite having the purest of intentions. It’s a case of mistaken identity, and the affected party claims that his reputation was destroyed due to the unfortunate gaffe.

Kardashian, an aspiring lawyer, is a strong advocate for criminal justice reform and has been vocal about her support for those she believes were wrongfully convicted or given harsh sentences, even documenting her crusade in the 2020 feature-length documentary The Justice Project. Last year, Kardashian took to Instagram to plead with her followers to sign an online petition to stay the execution of Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu.

Cantu was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 for two counts of capital murder in the shooting deaths of his cousin, James Mosqueda, and Mosqueda’s girlfriend, Amy Kitchen. Cantu maintained his innocence, and his supporters – including Kardashian, Martin Sheen, and Jane Fonda – believed the pieces of evidence against him were flimsy at best. Furthermore, one of the prosecution’s key witnesses admitted to perjury. Still, his final request for a stay was denied, and he was executed via lethal injection on Feb. 28, 2024 — two days after Kardashian’s Instagram post — declaring his innocence in his final moments.

The issue with Kardashian’s post was the photo she attached. Instead of the inmate’s photo, she mistakenly used an image of another man, a New Yorker who happened to share the same name with the death row inmate. Per Cantu’s lawyer, Greg Sobo, the social media mishap happened when his client was grieving the loss of a family member, further aggravating the situation. “Kim Kardashian took his name, his picture, and his reputation, and accused him of being a convicted murderer to her over 350 million followers,” Sobo told HuffPost.

After learning that his photo was used, Cantu took to his Facebook to clear his name, writing, “To all my friends and family, I am not getting executed, some idiot who runs @kimkardashian used my picture instead of Ivan ‘Abner’ Cantu.” He filed the lawsuit last week, claiming Kardashian’s mistake caused emotional distress and invaded his privacy. The suit accuses the socialite of defamation, slander, negligence, libel, and representing him in a false light. 

Kardashian’s legal counsel, Michael Rhodes, responded to the lawsuit, saying that it was a “simple mistake,” adding that the Instagram post was deleted as soon as the error was discovered, which happened just moments after the photo was posted. Rhodes says they would prefer to settle the issue out of court, but “will defend Kim as needed.” It seems Cantu’s side is intent on seeing it through to litigation, as Sobo said they have repeatedly attempted to contact Kardashian and her lawyers but got no response, prompting them to file the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual for Kardashian, as she was recently seen at what appeared to be a photoshoot by the beach in the Bahamas donning a skimpy, zebra-striped bikini and posing with some coconuts. In an age where a single post can spark a lawsuit, social media reminds us that influence comes with responsibility.