News

The California Court of Appeal today issued an opinion upholding a trial court’s finding that Ellis George clients Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have a probability of succeeding on their claims against YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. In the suit, filed by Ellis George in October 2013, Kardashian and West alleged that Hurley breached a contract and engaged in fraud by posting on his website an unauthorized video of West’s marriage proposal to Kardashian. In response, Hurley filed an “anti-SLAPP motion” seeking early dismissal of the case. The trial court denied Hurley’s motion. In affirming the trial court’s decision, the Court of Appeal wrote “Respondents made a prima facie showing of fraud by submitting evidence that Hurley signed the release, they allowed him to remain at the party and appear in Keeping Up with the Kardashians, he published the video and publicized it very soon after the event, and they were harmed as a result.” Ellis George lawyers Eric M. George, Russell F. Wolpert, and Elena Nutenko represented Kardashian and West on appeal.