Khloe Kardashian’s legal team sent a cease and desist letter to a small, independent designer, instructing her to stop accusing Khloe of stealing her work.
It looks like that’s blown up in Khloe’s face. Majorly.
If there’s one thing that truly unites the Kardashian family, it’s a fondness for cultural appropriation.
From cornrows to huge lips to big butt culture to … everything, it seems that the Kardashians scarcely have to see an element of black culture before they decide to make it their own.
But it seems that the appropriation isn’t limited to Kylie Jenner’s ever-changing body,
Designer Destiney Bleu, after repeatedly calling out Khloe and accusing her of ripping off her designs.
She did this so much that Khloe’s legal team sent a nasty cease-and-desist order.
Of course, most small-time designers would be quaking in their boots when threatened with a rich person’s lawsuit.
Even if you’re in the right, just letting a lawsuit drag out in court can completely exhaust someone’s finances. You can win the case but have your life ruined.
Destiney has majorly clapped back, and no matter which of them you believe about the propietary issues, these words are absolutely worth reading.
We wonder if Khloe is regretting any of that now?
Though the response letter comes from Destiney’s legal representative, it seems pretty clear that Destiney’s words are involved.
Because the letter is decidedly not limited to legal jargon.
“It is not illegal for Khloe to copy Destiney’s designs — it is just tacky, disrespectful, and in bad taste,” says Destiney’s scathing response letter, as reported by TooFab.
“There is also something deeply uncomfortable about someone with Khloe’s wealth and power appropriating designs and fashion directly from a black woman with a small business without crediting her, making cheap knockoffs, and then attempting to threaten her into silence.”
Hold on a moment, we need to print out that line and frame it and hang it on our wall.
But the letter continues.
“You should be ashamed.”
It’s clear that we’re all meant to know exactly what Khloe’s lawyers are demanding from Destiney.
“You demand that Destiney ‘cease and desist’ her ‘false statements,’ ‘make an appropriate corrective statement,’ and ‘that [Destiney’s] trolls stop attacking [Khloe Kardashian’s] social media channels."”
How exactly is Destiney expected to stop other people from independently tweeting at Khloe?
With magic? Sorry, Khloe’s legal team, but even if you happen to think that all black people look alike, Destiney isn’t Azealia Banks.
“However, your attempt to censor Destiney with these meritless threats will have the opposite of its intended effect. Destiney will not surrender to your bullying.”
That lawyer’s absolutely right about the opposite effect business, because if Khloe had never tried to shut down Destiney’s statements, a lot of people might never have heard about this.
And, by the way, Destiney’s also happy to provide evidence of correspondences she had, which she says prove that Khloe had access to Destiney’s samples … before going on to copy them.
How sad must it be to be rich and famous but still feel the need to pluck ideas from others and claim them as your own?
We don’t know how this legal drama will unfold, but we’re sure glad that Destiney’s words are being heard.
Maybe it’ll be a boost to her business.
