Comedian Kevin Hart has sued YouTuber Tasha K. Here's the lawsuit's full complaint.
Comedian Kevin Hart has sued YouTuber Tasha K. Here's the lawsuit's full complaint.
The lawsuit in Los Angeles brings extortion and invasion of privacy claims against a woman who already has a $4 million defamation judgment against her.
Comedian Kevin Hart has sued YouTuber Tasha K over an interview she did with his former personal assistant Mesiah Shakes, accusing her of an extortion scheme.
The complaint says an associate of Tasha, whose legal name Latasha Transrina Kebe, told someone representing Hart he could stop the publication of the interview for $250,000. Tasha then posted a teaser clip for the interview on her YouTube channel “Unwine with Tasha K” that included her saying, “when you don’t pay, we have to get money by any means necessary.”
“Hart and his representatives contacted the police and did not pay the ransom that Kebe was demanding,” according to the complaint, which names Shakes and Tasha as defendants as well as Tasha’s company Kebe Studios, LLC.
The interview published on Tasha’s website on Dec. 22, “charging viewers a $12.00 per month subscription fee in order to access and view the Interview.”
The complaint says Shakes signed confidentiality agreement in August 2017 as well as a nondisclosure agreement in 2020 that paid her $30,000 a year for three years. But in November 2023, she spoke with Tasha in a recorded interview that breached the agreement and “also included false and defamatory statements regarding Hart and certain legal disputes in which he had been involved.”
“During the Interview, Kebe asked Shakes whether she was subject to any non-disclosure agreements which would have prohibited her from disclosing the type of information that was the subject of the Interview,” according to the complaint. “Shakes acknowledged that she and Plaintiffs were, in fact, party to the NDA, but claimed that the agreement had unspecified “loopholes” that she apparently contended would enable her to escape the consequences of her brazenly violating her promises to Plaintiffs and the NDA and Confidentiality Agreement’s terms.”
The complaint says Tasha “has an established history of posting defamatory and otherwise improper content regarding celebrities” and mentions the judgment against her for defaming rapper Cardi B.
The complaint was filed with copies fo the contracts between Shakes and Hart as well as a Nov. 22 cease-and-desist letter Hart’s lawyer sent Tasha.
The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It has five claims: civil extortion, breach of contract, intentional interference with contractual relations, invasion of privacy and defamation.
The defamation claim is only against Shakes, who also is being sued for extortion, invasion of privacy and breach of contract. Tasha is being sued for extortion, invasion of privacy and intentional interference with contractual relations.
Hart and his company K. Hart Enterprises, Inc., are represented by Robert W. Barnes and Stacey N. Knox of Resch Polster & Berger LLP as well as Donte O. Mills of Mills $ Edwards LLP in New York City.
The full filing, including the complaint and the cease-and-desist letter and Shakes’ agreement with Hart, is available below for paid subscribers.