Kim Kardashian and mom Kris Jenner have prevailed again in their defamation war against Ray J, with a Los Angeles judge siding with the mother-daughter duo and declining to dismiss their claims.
Ray J, born William Ray Norwood Jr., had sought to dismiss the lawsuit by arguing it had no merit and was filed to silence him. The judge disagreed, finding Norwood did not qualify for protection under California’s anti-SLAPP law, which is intended to quickly dismiss lawsuits targeting free speech that are not likely to prevail.
Judge Steven Ellis ruled that Kardashian and Jenner presented sufficient evidence showing Norwood’s allegedly “malicious” statements were not protected by a litigation privilege and that they could “reasonably be interpreted” as accusing the women of a crime.
Kardashian and Jenner alleged in an October 2025 lawsuit that Norwood defamed them when he suggested during a 2025 TMZ interview and on a subsequent livestream that Kardashian and Jenner were — or should be — the subjects of a federal racketeering investigation.
“A statement that accuses a plaintiff of committing a crime is defamatory on its face,” Judge Ellis wrote. He added that “a reasonable person would be offended by a false accusation that they had committed a crime.”
“On this record, Plaintiffs have submitted evidence sufficient to show that their causes of action have at least minimal merit. That is sufficient to defeat Defendant’s special motion to strike,” he ruled. He said the trial remained set for March 6, 2028.
“We will promptly appeal the ruling which failed to recognize Ray J’s First Amendment right to publish his opinion about the despicable behavior of Kim Kardashian. The appeal freezes the proceedings, so it is unlikely there will be a trial in 2028 or ever,” Norwood’s lawyer, Howard King, said in a statement shared with Rolling Stone on Wednesday.
Norwood has denied the women’s claims that he acted maliciously. He filed a cross-complaint for breach of a settlement agreement on Nov. 13, 2025. Those claims have been sent to arbitration.
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According to Norwood, the parties previously agreed to an April 2023 settlement that included a non-disparagement clause. The agreement followed statements Kardashian made during a 2022 episode of The Kardashians, in which she accused Norwood of sexual assault, distributing revenge porn, and attempting extortion. Norwood threatened legal action, and under the private deal, Kardashian agreed to pay $6 million and to make no further public references to the sex tape on the show, Norwood said in his cross-complaint.
According to Norwood, within a month of the agreement, Kardashian and Jenner — along with Kanye West and Kendall Jenner — discussed the tape on another episode of The Kardashians, violating the contract. Norwood said he notified them of what he considered a material breach of their pact, and they purportedly responded that the agreement did not apply to Season Three because it had been filmed before the contract took effect.
