NEW YORK — Kim Kardashian West sued an online media outlet for libel Tuesday, saying she was wrongly portrayed as a liar and thief after she was attacked in Paris.
The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court seeks unspecified damages from MediaTakeOut.com. It said Kardashian West, traumatized by the Oct. 3 armed robbery, was victimized a second time when the website reported hours afterward that she faked the robbery and lied about the assault.
The website’s owner, Fred Mwangaguhunga, didn’t answer his phone Tuesday. A message left with the website wasn’t immediately returned.
Police said armed robbers forced their way into a private residence where the reality TV star was staying, tied her up and stole $10 million worth of jewelry. She was in Paris for fashion week.
No arrests have been made.
The lawsuit said the website lacked any factual support when it published a series of articles referring to her as a liar and a thief and alleged that she faked the robbery, lied about the violent assault and filed a fraudulent claim with her insurance company to cheat her carrier out of millions of dollars.
The lawsuit said the “malicious publication of the articles, which paint the victim of a serious crime as a criminal herself, is libelous.”
The website also ignored her demand that it publish a retraction and apology for calling her a liar and a criminal, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, Kardashian was assaulted and robbed by two masked men who put a gun to her head, duct-taped her hands, legs and mouth, and left her lying helplessly on the bathroom floor while they left with the jewelry.
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