I don't know about you, but my morning was completely eclipsed by Rob Kardashian. Specifically, the reality star's decision to post nude photos of ex Blac Chyna on Instagram without her consent. This is tiring for so many reasons. First off, this is the umpteenth public fight the couple has gotten into. It's also another instance of revenge porn, which women are all too often the victims of. But perhaps what's really getting under my skin is the thought of Kim Kardashian, or rather, the fact that the brother of someone who was the victim of nonconsensual distribution of sexually explicit content would turn around and do the same thing to another woman.
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In March of 2007, a company called Vivid Entertainment obtained and released Kim Kardashian's sex tape under the name "Kim Kardashian, Superstar." The leaked footage was shot on a handheld camcorder by Kardashian and Willie “Ray J” Norwood, her then-boyfriend and the younger brother of Brandy Norwood. The two had taken a trip to Cabo, Mexico to celebrate Kim's 23rd birthday, and ended up filming 41 minutes of footage that included platonic goofing around as well as sexual intercourse.
When the tape was published, Kim Kardashian was not the mogul she is today. She was mostly known for her appearances on The Simple Life, if anyone knew her at all. After this tape was released without her consent, suddenly she was everywhere. Over the past ten years, the now-36-year-old managed to turn a personal trauma into a platform to become one of the most prominent businesswomen of all time, but this doesn't erase what she had to go through, or the pain of having her privacy so brutally violated.
Rob Kardashian was there for all of this. Granted, he was 20 years old at the time, but that doesn't mean he was sheltered for what was ultimately a difficult time for the family. Kim did not want this video released, and had her lawyer, Steven Kurtz, file suit against Vivid Entertainment in February of 2007 to prevent it. The video was released in March, and Kardashian settled the suit in April.
"Paris calls me and she’s like, ‘Dude — what the f–k!’" Kevin Dickson, a former editor at In Touch Weekly, remembers when they first found out about the tape. "And Kim was crying in the background."
To have your sister go through this and then turn around and do it to somebody else is the height of ignorance. But at the end of the day, Rob Kardashian isn't anyone else's responsibility. Kim Kardashian or not, he should know on principle that posting nude photos of someone without their consent is not okay — plus, it's also illegal. If Kim Kardashian's history can't stop him, then maybe the law will.
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