A man has abandoned his appeal of a judge’s ruling dismissing a lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleged that he was defamed when associates of Kim Kardashian mistakenly used his photo in an online commentary about an inmate by the same name awaiting execution in Texas in early 2024.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael C. Small heard arguments on the 45-year-old Kardashian’s anti-SLAPP motion on Oct. 14 and took the issues under submission before ruling in her favor on Nov 5, dismissing plaintiff Ivan Cantu’s case. Cantu appealed the ruling on Dec. 30, but his attorney filed court papers on Tuesday with Small stating that the appeal was being abandoned. No reason was given.
Originally filed in February 2025 to allege defamation, false light invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence, plaintiff Cantu’s suit was amended May 28, 2025 to add a claim for misappropriation of likeness. In May of this year, Small granted Kardashian $167,475 in attorneys’ fees and $1,062 in costs as the prevailing party in the anti-SLAPP motion.
In their opposition to Kardashian’s attorneys’ fees request, Cantu’s lawyers contended that the anti-SLAPP statute was “not intended to so severely punish an innocent victim who suffered injuries due to defendant’s admitted error and due to the clear inequity of the financial status of the parties, which would punish Mr. Cantu unfairly due to defendant’s wealth, power and ability to easily pay her attorney’s outrageously high fees.”
The state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights. Cantu’s attorneys further stated in their pleadings that if Small was inclined to award attorneys’ fees and costs that he cap the total amount at $5,000.
In his November dismissal ruling, the judge said Cantu did not indicate that he sustained damages because of Kardashian’s mistake.
Cantu said in a sworn declaration that the error caused him to receive several online messages from strangers who believed he was going to be executed.
“The post caused me to suffer embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, emotional and mental anguish, headaches, loss of sleep and loss of reputation,” Cantu said.