Kevin Hart Sues YouTuber And It Could Be Brutal
If Depp v. Heard wasn’t enough for you, Hollywood may be gearing up for another high-profile legal battle. At the forefront is comedian and actor Kevin Hart, squaring off against Tasha K, a popular YouTuber. If that weren’t sufficiently juicy, he’s also suing his former personal assistant, Miesha Shakes. Hart’s suit alleges extortion attempts and the spreading of false and defamatory statements.
The dispute centers around an interview conducted by Latasha Kebe (also known as Tasha K) with Shakes. The former enjoys a significant following on YouTube—her channel, UNWINEWITHTASHAK, sports 1.18 million subscribers and 1,673 videos.
Kebe broadcasted the interview—itself the focus of Kevin Hart’s lawsuit—on her Instagram and YouTube channels. Hart claimed the interview contained a slew of false statements regarding both his personal life and serious legal matters.
During the interview, Shakes, whom Hart’s company employed from August 2017 to October 2020, volunteered several allegations about Hart’s private affairs. First, she claimed that the 44-year-old actor was unfaithful to his wife, Eniko Parrish—even voicing that Hart’s infidelity took place at his own office.
Second, Shakes stated that she elected to inform Parrish about the affair, additionally accusing Hart of harboring a gambling problem.
For his part, Hart’s complaint vehemently denies these claims, characterizing them as patently false.
Kevin Hart also explicitly rejected the most controversial of the allegations: that a video exists of a sexual encounter involving Hart and, furthermore, that the video led to related criminal charges.
The lawsuit also references an alleged extortion attempt by Kebe in November; specifically, it claims the former employee demanded $250,000 from Hart and threatened to release the interview if he didn’t comply.
Unsurprisingly, Hart involved the police and issued a cease and desist order to Kebe. The lawsuit further propounds that publishing the interview violates a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) between Shakes and Hart.
Kevin Hart’s representatives elected not to comment on the developing suit. Opting for a different approach–ever the content creator–Kebe capitalized on the publicity to direct attention toward her Youtube channel, urging her audience to watch the interview in full.
On the other hand, Shakes, like Hart and co., has refrained from making any public statements.
Of course, comedy fans will know that the lawsuit follows on the heels of Hart’s public admission of infidelity in 2017. The comedian candidly discussed the racy subject matter in his Netflix documentary series Don’t F**k It Up, characterizing the period as one of the low points in his life.
At that time, after his affair was revealed alongside subsequent extortion attempts, Kevin Hart publicly apologized to his wife—who was eight months pregnant with their first child.
Regardless, Hart’s stringent, speedy legal action demonstrates a muscular stance against what he interprets as deliberate attempts to damage his reputation and invade his privacy.
This lawsuit involves allegations of civil extortion, privacy infringement, contract violation, defamation, and intentional interference with contractual relationships. Moreover, in the digital era, it represents the potential to forge a precedent governing how public figures handle personal attacks and the spread of alleged misinformation.
Source: People
