He says Kim Kardashian ruined his life with one Instagram post. Now he owes her six figures

A case of mistaken identity can cost you, especially if it involves Kim Kardashian. When Kim Kardashian shared a photo of a Texas death row inmate on Instagram to raise questions about his conviction for double murder, there was only one problem: She had the wrong man. With his execution date nearing in early 2024, Kardashian posted on Instagram and Facebook to raise awareness about Ivan Cantu, who was convicted of killing his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée. The image she posted unfortunately featured a different Ivan Cantu – one very much not behind bars and living in Westchester, New York. Her social media team had mistakenly identified that Cantu, who worked as a project manager, and pulled his headshot from LinkedIn. Kardashian’s team corrected the social media flub quickly, but because the reality TV star turned criminal justice advocate is one of the world’s most-followed social media figures, the damage was done. At least, that’s what Cantu’s legal team argued when the Cantu not on death row sued the celebrity the following year. Now, after his lawsuit was thrown out last year, a judge just ruled that the living Cantu owes the billionaire influencer and reality TV star more than $167,000 in legal fees. Cantu vs. Kardashian In a civil complaint filed in L.A., Cantu argued that the incident exposed him to online hate, ridicule, and contempt. “Kardashian published and disseminated false information about Cantu that was clearly untrue, erroneous, unfounded, shocking, scandalous, degrading, disgraceful, and/or shameful,” the complaint stated. The New York Cantu said that having one of the world’s most famous people link his likeness to a murder case caused emotional distress and damaged his reputation. Cantu sued for defamation through libel, defamation through slander, false light, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligent infliction of emotional distress, and misappropriation of likeness. Late last year, the court