A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has denied Ray J's motion to dismiss the defamation and false light claims filed against him by Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner, AllHipHop and HotNewHipHop both reported on August 13. The case is now expected to go to trial in May 2028. Ray J's attorney, Howard King, says the team will appeal, arguing the ruling infringes on Ray J's First Amendment right to express his opinions about the two women.
The claim traces to comments Ray J made during an October 2025 livestream, where he alleged Kardashian and Jenner were under a federal racketeering investigation and that their situation could be "worse than Diddy." He later argued the remarks were exaggerated opinion and that he believed the stream had already ended, but the court found a reasonable viewer could take the comments as factual and rejected the claim that he was unaware it was still running.
The dispute sits alongside a long-running history between Ray J and the Kardashian family. Ray J and Kim Kardashian were together in Cabo San Lucas for her 23rd birthday in October 2003, and a tape he recorded of the two of them surfaced publicly in 2007 through Vivid Entertainment; Ray J later referenced the history in a 2013 song, "I Hit It First."
According to TMZ, Kardashian and Jenner paid Ray J $6 million in 2023 to sign a confidentiality agreement covering the tape, which he has separately accused them of violating by discussing it on their Hulu reality show, prompting his own countersuit.
King's planned appeal is expected to freeze proceedings, making the May 2028 trial date unlikely to hold as scheduled. Ray J's own counterclaim over the 2023 settlement remains pending alongside the Kardashian-Jenner defamation suit, which sits within R&B and soul on MusicSuey given his own recording career.
The facts
- A judge denied Ray J's attempt to dismiss the case
- The claim was brought by Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner
- The case is set for trial in May 2028
- The claim stems from an October 2025 livestream
- Ray J's attorney plans to appeal on First Amendment grounds
- Ray J has a separate pending counterclaim over a 2023 settlement
- The dispute traces back to a 2003 recording that surfaced publicly in 2007
How this checks out
Developing
Reported by 2 independent outlets
A few outlets have it so far, short of the bar we set for confirmed.
Cited sources 2
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