While the internet disgorged its fair share of snark after Kim Kardashian was literally bound, gagged and robbed in her Paris hotel, some media sources took the story a step further, and suggested that the entire robbery was actually staged.
On Tuesday of this week, a furious Kim K brought a libel suit against one of these publications, gossip blog MediaTakeOut, who ran no fewer than three articles suggesting that the heist was an inside job, for insurance money.
MediaTakeOut has since scrubbed the articles in question from the site, but founder Fred Mwangaguhunga, perhaps realising that he is in moderate to deep shit, issued an apology and admitted that they were wrong to publish these accusations in the first place.
In an interview with CNN Money, Mwangaguhunga said that he believes the suit will be resolved soon, and that he feels bad for placing Kim at the centre of a false story:
“Kim Kardashian is not just a celebrity, she is a human being. She is a mother, she is a wife and she was a victim of a violent crime. She definitely did not deserve it and she deserved to be believed.”
Admitting that the publication may well have misled readers, he said:
“Our number one goal is to produce the most accurate information as quickly as possible and we did that… But now, looking back at it, you have a chance often times to look back and reflect on what it is that happened. It’s now clear that she was robbed. It’s clear that the reporting that we did hurt her, and we certainly don’t want that to be what we do.”
He also spoke about the somewhat fraught relationship between celebrities and the tabloid media, saying:
“As with most celebrities, there is often a love hate relationship with MediaTakeOut. Sometimes, you are writing stories about people that are incredibly flattering and I think celebrities love to hear that. And often times, you are writing stories about celebrities that are not often flattering – and those days – they don’t really like it. I suspect that the Kardashians and Kanye fall into that.”
Source: CNN Money.
Photo: Stephane Carindale / Corbis / Getty.
