The fairytale, made-for-TV wedding of reality TV star Kim Kardashian and estranged husband Kris Humphries could turn into a made-for-TV divorce.
Unless Kardashian agrees to Humphries’ request for an annulment based on fraud or reaches a financial settlement with him in their lawyers’ offices, the case will wind up in court and probably on a television screen, reports say. Texas also allows cameras in courtrooms, but they are generally prohibited in family court because of sensitive issues that could arise.
That’s because California court policy allows the televising of cases with high public interest. Among those: the Michael Jackson’s child-molestation case, the Robert Blake and Scott Peterson murder trials and the case synonymous with the California televised trial, the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial. Kardashian’s father, the late Robert Kardashian, was a longtime Simpson friend and served as one of his lawyers.
Kardashian and Humphries, a professional basketball player, had been married just 72 days when Kardashian filed for divorce in fall 2011. While it was reported that Humphries would sign off on the divorce, he instead filed his own annulment case. He contends that Kardashian married him to drive the plot for “Kourtney & Kim Take New York,” the short-run reality show that featured two Kardashian sisters and their significant others living temporarily in New York.
Kardashian’s marital unhappiness and subsequent decision to end the brief marriage were played out on the show.
One lawyer who handles celebrity divorces in Southern California said the facts that could be exposed in an annulment case could prove damaging, making it unlikely for Kardashian to agree to that option.
If the two sides don’t settle and do wind up in court, it is believed that Humphries’ side will show portions of the reality show to prove his assertion that the marriage — and the ensuing divorce — had nothing to do with a relationship but rather with ratings.
Source: Huffington Post, “Kim Kardashian Divorce: Will Trial Be Televised,” Feb. 3, 2012