“Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris is denying his sister’s allegation in an amended lawsuit that he not only breached an anti-disparagement agreement in 2022 by calling her a “no-talent hack,” but also used their 83-year-old mother to try and obtain an advantage in the siblings’ litigation.
Kenya Barris says in a sworn declaration filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that he loves his mother, Ernestine Barris, and speaks with her “as her son about our family, her health and our lives in general.”
But Kenya Barris also says he never told his mother not to testify in his litigation with his sister, Colette Barris.
“I did not tell my mother that if she did not testify there would be no case,” Kenya Barris says.
In her own declaration, Ernestine Barris says she hired a lawyer because she does not want to be put in the middle of her children’s fight. She says having an attorney has helped her deal with the emotional toll events have had no her.
“I have tried to help them to settle the case,” Ernestine Barris says of her children. “I have pleaded with them to no avail.”
A settlement of Colette Barris’ lawsuit had been announced last Dec. 5 during a scheduled trial-setting conference before Judge Peter A. Hernandez. But the attorneys told the judge during a June status conference that the case was not resolved after all and that Colette Barris planned to file an amended suit.
The updated complaint was filed Sept. 14 with additional causes of action for defamation, tortious interference, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, public disclosure of private facts and negligence arising from her brother’s alleged post-settlement breaches of a Feb. 22, 2021, settlement agreement.
Under the 2021 agreement, Kenya Barris agreed to dismiss a temporary restraining order, not interfere with his sister’s projects and to pay the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees of just under $20,100. Both parties agreed to mutual non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions.
But in 2022, Kenya Barris made disparaging statements about his sister to executives at major studios and networks, including Sony Pictures and Hallmark, the amended complaint alleges, referring to her as a “70-year-old no-talent hack and directing them not to work with her or her projects, including “Claretta Street,” according to the revised suit.
Colette Barris also lost the services of consulting producer Gavin Glynn, who was threatened with loss of employment and housing if he continued working with the plaintiff, the updated suit further states.
Colette Barris obtained a recording of her sibling making disparaging remarks about her that were created when Kenya Barris contacted their mother, Ernestine Barris, and Kenya subsequently harassed their mother because he wanted her to write a letter containing false statements about the recording to undermine the plaintiff’s case, the amended suit alleges.
Kenya Barris, 52, is a film and television writer, producer, director and actor. Colette Barris has been a teacher for more than three decades at Los Angeles Unified middle and high schools.
In December 2020, Kenya Barris sought a domestic violence restraining order against the plaintiff, alleging she had abused his children, Colette Barris’ court papers state.
Two months later, the siblings reached an agreement for Kenya Barris to drop his restraining order request and he promised not to disparage her in the future, but he broke that commitment in June 2022 by making unflattering comments about his sister to a third party by making the “no-talent hack” comment, according to her suit filed in December 2022.
A case management conference is scheduled Nov. 2.
Kenya Barris is represented by a law firm that includes attorney Bryan J. Freedman, whose clients also include Don Lemon, Justin Baldoni, Tucker Carlson and the Mendendez brothers.