California Judge Reverses Decision, Allowing Kim Kardashian EMAX Lawsuit to Proceed on Basis of Updated Allegations
A California judge had a change of heart regarding the dismissal of allegations against reality TV star Kim Kardashian after receiving a more detailed complaint.
The ruling on Tuesday concluded that Kardashian’s endorsement of EthereumMax (EMAX) through her social media posts was false, paving the way for the lawsuit against her and other public figures involved in the case.
The lawsuit, which made headlines last year, was brought forth by investors who accused Kardashian, retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., and NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, among others, of deceiving them through the promotion of digital assets associated with EMAX tokens. These tokens are built on the Ethereum blockchain but are not directly linked to the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
While a preliminary ruling in December had suggested that District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald was inclined to dismiss the allegations against Kardashian, her attempt to have an amended complaint dismissed was denied in a recent order.
According to the order, the plaintiffs substantially amended their previous complaint by introducing over 100 pages of new allegations. In the expanded complaint, they adequately asserted that Kardashian’s social media posts in May 2022 were false and that a post in June was misleading by inaccurately suggesting the scarcity of EMAX tokens.
Similar claims made by Paul Pierce were also denied dismissal, while Floyd Mayweather’s motion was partly granted on the basis that his comments about EMAX at the Bitcoin 2021 conference were considered statements of belief.
Additionally, Judge Fitzgerald ruled in favor of dismissing several securities claims added to the plaintiffs’ amended complaint due to a lack of specificity. However, the plaintiffs have the opportunity to amend those claims.
The defendants, including EMAX Holdings LLC, argued that the investors, who initially did not mention securities in their complaint filed a year prior, were now claiming that their purchases of EMAX tokens were always intended as investment contracts.
In October, Kim Kardashian was fined $1.2 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for promoting EMAX to her millions of Instagram followers.
