Those fiercely private Kardashian sisters will attach their names to just about anything (nail polish, diet supplements, sneakers) but they don’t want it anywhere near their ex-stepmother Ellen Pearson. According to The Hollywood Reporter, reality stars and tabloid fixtures Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as their mother Kris Jenner, are suing Pearson, who was briefly married to their father Robert Kardashian.
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In a statement released to Hollywood.com, the Kardashian’s attorney Marty Singer says, “The Kardashians and Kris Jenner have filed a suit against Ellen Pearson for taking personal property belonging to them by virtue of Robert Kardashian’s will and by virtue of copyright protection. [Thursday]’s filing should serve as notice that they will vigorously defend their rights when forced to do so.”
Pearson, who reportedly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010, has been accused of cashing in on the lucrative Kardashian name. She allegedly has “retained some of the family’s personal possessions including her late husband’s diary, family photo albums, and a family holiday photograph” after her late ex-husband’s passing in 2003.
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Those personal effects have wound up in tabloid fixtures like In Touch and Life & Style and the Kardashians, who tend to control their own self-made empire, stated in the lawsuit that was filed in California that Pearson has orchestrated a “despicable and unlawful scheme to hold in secret and convert, and now exploit … private personal and copyright protected” material. Per Robert Kardashian’s will, he left his daughter the “bulk of his personal tangible and intangible property,” so as per the Kardashian’s argument, the items Pearson possesses and has been using for profit are “incontestably” their inheritance.
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The Kardashians are suing Pearson for “at least $500,000 in damages, plus more in profits, statutory damages, punitive and exemplary damages is demanded.”
Additional reporting by Lindsey DiMattina
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