It’s been too long since we’ve talked about the Kardashians or Kanye West but now that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are engaged to be married (her third marriage, if you’re keeping score), the synergy of these two people (one talented legitimately, one maybe not so much) and how much press they generate (both negative and positive) makes my head hurt. Because I think maybe sometimes you can have too much money if your idea of responsible spending (as we espouse here on PrimeRates.com) is to rent out a baseball park and hire an orchestra to propose to someone who’s already been married twice.
In case you haven’t heard, Kim Kardashian stars with her family of siblings, half-siblings, boyfriends, mother, stepfather and assorted hangers-on in Keeping Up With the Kardashians a scripted television show – oh, I’m sorry, I meant to say a reality show. In previous seasons, we were treated to Kim’s previous engagement (to NBA star Kris Humphries) and their over-the-top wedding (at which Kim wore 3 different wedding gowns) and then the crumbling of their marriage right in front of the cameras over the course of 72 days.
Apparently Kim and Kanye have been friends for years and their friendship evolved into a relationship and then they had a child. And good for them if this is really true love and it’s going to last a lifetime. I hope for their child’s sake it does. But they’re not happy right now, primarily at the co-founder of YouTube, Charlie Hurley, who leaked a video of the proposal on his new video sharing website, MixBit.
According to a lawsuit filed on Halloween, Mr. Hurley managed to sneak into the birthday party/engagement party at San Francisco’s AT&T Park on October 21 and was allowed to stay because he knew someone who had been legitimately invited. The lawsuit claims that Hurley gave his word in writing that he wouldn’t film or publish any part of the festivities. The court documents are also said to include a photo of Hurley supposedly holding a signed confidentiality agreement. (Which begs the question of whether Kim and Kanye or maybe Kris Jenner walk around with confidentiality agreements in their pockets just for occasions like this).
There were, of course, plenty of other cameras there filming the proposal because Kanye “allowed” it for possible inclusion in a future episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. It’s just Mr. Hurley’s camera that they didn’t want filming the event. The suit doesn’t specify how much in damages the happy couple is seeking from Hurley and his company or how no one apparently noticed him filming the event while he was there (and could have potentially told him to stop or shown him the door) but it does specify that Hurley’s video of the event diminishes the value of the video West authorized.
I’m not sure this whole thing rises to the level of lawsuit but in our litigation-obsessed society, maybe it does. And I’m not sure that Kanye West (who has been featured most recently on this fine site for taking a reported $3 million for performing at an event where the main guest was the dictator of Kazakhstan) needs any more negative publicity. He’s recently taken a lot of flak for canceling several concerts at the last minute, blaming it on technology and not apologizing to his fans so he could use some positive press these days. It’s only a thought but West seems particularly not interested in the celebrity aspect of being a celebrity so getting engaged to one of the most famous and photographed women on earth and then expecting privacy is probably not thinking it through or having realistic expectations.
So we’ll keep you posted on how this lawsuit winds up but here’s hoping that – if somehow Kim and Kanye prevail and are awarded damages – they’ll donate it to any one of the many deserving charities out there which would make some real good come out of this traumatic event.