Rob Kardashian's Blac Chyna Revenge Porn Controversy

Overview

Rob Kardashian's Blac Chyna Revenge Porn Controversy regards the actions of reality-TV star Rob Kardashian, following the break up between him and ex-fiancee, model Blac Chyna. On July 5th, 2017, Kardashian posted nude photographs of Chyna on his Instagram and Twitter accounts without her consent, which might amount to revenge porn, a criminal offense.

Background

On July 2nd, 2017, Blac Chyna, a 29-year-old model and the ex-fiancee of reality-TV star Rob Kardashian, as well as the mother of his daughter, Dream, posted and then deleted an Instagram that read "single. i'm happy" and a caption that read, "Hello."^[1] The post ended any speculation as to the current relationship status between Chyna and Kardashian, who have been estranged since February 2017.^[3]

Since Chyna quickly deleted the post (shown below), it was shared by the Instagram account @theshaderoom,^[2] where it garnered more than 47,000 likes.

Three days later, on July 5th, Rob Kardashian took to Instagram, where he posted a video of Chyna kissing another man, while looking into the camera. He captioned the post, "Hahahaha Chyna just sent me this video saying happy 4th of July what a crazy person. Come spend time with your daughter instead of f***ing me and then this dude right after. U need help' Rob wrote next to the intimate clip." Within an hour, the video had more than 2.6 million views. He would later upload the video to Twitter, where he wrote, "Today Chyna sent me a video after I just bought her 250K of jewelry and she sends me this video… of another man in our bed." The post (shown below) received more than 56,000 retweets and 110,000 likes within 24 hours.^[4]

Today Chyna sent me a video after I just bought her 250K of jewelry and she sends me this video… of another man in our bed pic.twitter.com/3rE4luXilJ

— ROBERT KARDASHIAN (@robkardashian) July 5, 2017

Additionally, Kardashian posted photographs of Chyna before cosmetic surger, which he said he paid for, and an explicit photograph of Blac Chyna nude and tagged her in it, causing Instagram to shut down his account. He would later post the pictures to Twitter, where they were again taken down.

Developments

Shortly after Kardashian's social media attacks began, Chyna responded in a now-deleted Snapchat (shown below), in which she accused him of physical abuse. The account @blacchynasnapchats posted the snapchats, which read "Rob u did all this but u beat me up and try act it never happen !!!!! U put hand on me I swear on god !!!!! On my kids but I'm supposed to be quiet because you're a Kardashian."^[5][6]

Many online have claimed that Kardashian's posts constitute as "revenge porn," or "nonconsensual pornography." While not illegal throughout the United States, in California, where both Kardashian and Chyna reside, it is a criminal act to intentionally distribute intimate photos or videos of another without consent. The offense could be punishable by up to six months in jail and a up to a $1,000 fine.^[7]

However, some have contended that this might not be technically revenge porn in this case. California attorney Paul Wallin, who has worked 50 revenge-porn cases, said, “It cannot be revenge porn unless the DA can prove she [Chyna] suffered emotional distress."

Wallin continues by saying that because nude photographs of Chyna already exist online and because she "liked" the Instagram posts, proving that the posts caused her emotional distress becomes much harder.^[8]

Online Reaction

Shortly after the pictures were posted, the "Poor Dream," a reference to Chyna and Kardashian's daughter dream, started trending. In general, many online called Kardashian's actions "revenge porn," posting about how such images were illegal in the state of California (examples below).

However, others were quick to comment on Kardashian's poor judgement in being in a relationship with her, posting gifs and pictures that expressed feigned surprise (examples below).

Media Coverage

Numerous news outlets covered the posting, reaction and legal analysis of the posts, including The Washington Post,^[7] The Hollywood Reporter,^[6] The LA Times,^[3] USA Today,^[9] Fox^[10] and more.

Search Interest

External References