Blac Chyna will be able to depose the Kardashian-Jenner family in her ex-fiancé Rob Kardashian’s assault and battery lawsuit against her.
The model’s attorney Lynne Ciani told Page Six that they are “very pleased to announce” that they will be able to question Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner because the trial court “agreed” that they are “not above the law”.
According to sources, Chyna had initially wanted each of the women to be deposed for seven hours, but at the hearing her lawyer said she’d agree to four hours.
The court ended up reducing the deposition to just two hours per person.
Michael Rhodes, counsel to the Kardashian-Jenner family, told the outlet: “We are pleased the court limited the scope of the depositions to minimize the burden on the very busy members of the family.”
Chyna, whose real name is Angela Renée White, subpoenaed members of the Kardashian-Jenner clan to sit for further depositions as part of her defense strategy.
On December 14th, 2021, Kris, Kim, Khloe and Kylie’s attorneys filed court papers to a Los Angeles judge to quash the subpoenas requested by Chyna.
In court documents obtained by E! News, they argued: “The subpoenas must be quashed because they present an unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, and undue burden on the Non-Parties who have already been examined exhaustively by Ms. White in the related matter.”
“Ms. White has no basis for wanting to depose these Non-Parties again on the same issues, other than to harass and burden the Kardashians/Jenners and generate headlines forcing the Non-Parties to file this motion.”
“The court should reject Ms. White’s misuse of the discovery process and quash the subpoenas.”
Lawyers for Kris, Kim, Khloe and Kylie also argued that their clients are busy with business and professional commitments scheduled months in advance.
As a result, it would be “excessively disruptive and burdensome to force their additional depositions to take place on such short notice.”
Blac Chyna’s lawyer Lynne Ciani told E! News: “Angela White will respectfully ask the trial court to enforce the deposition subpoenas.”
“The Kardashians/Jenners are not above the law. Indeed, even people who run ‘billion-dollar enterprises’ (to quote the Kardashian/Jenner court documents) must comply with valid subpoena powers of California’s superior courts.”
Rob, 34, and Chyna, 33, got engaged in in April 2016 following a whirlwind romance.
After Chyna fell pregnant, the couple welcomed Dream in November 2016, before they called it quits in February 2017.
Rob sued Chyna in September that same year, alleging that she committed domestic violence against him in December 2016 at the home they once shared.
In November 2017, Chyna filed a separate action against Kris, Kim, Khloe and Kylie – alleging that they lied about her assaulting Rob to E! executives to prevent her from obtaining a second season of the former couple’s reality television show Rob & Chyna.
According to court documents, Chyna’s attorney deposed the four Kardashian-Jenner members in 2019 and received a combined 25 hours of testimony on the record.
The famous family’s lawyers argued last month that additional depositions will not reasonably lead to “admissible evidence”, and that the testimony would simply repeat their previous testimony and be given more than five years after the alleged incident.
They argued that in comparison, the prior depositions were taken in 2019, “years closer to the underlying events in 2016”.
They said: “If the Non-Parties’ depositions were relevant to Ms. White’s defense, she would not have waited four years after the suit was filed and weeks before the close of discovery to seek them.”
The trial of Rob’s suit is scheduled for February 23, 2022.
