What happens when a designer brings receipts and proof that she supplied a celebrity with items from her line? Then said celebrity releases practically the exact-same designs, but the designer calls attention to being ripped off and her squad asks for answers on social media? Well, if you’re that celebrity and your name is Khloé Kardashian, you threaten to sue the designer and send a cease and desist letter.
The above is what happened to designer Destiney Bleu. Bleu’s bedazzled designs are pretty well known—so well known that Kardashian purchased several thousand dollars’ worth of her items last year. But imagine the shock on Bleu’s face when she saw Kardashian promoting duplications of her designs in her Good American clothing line.
On Friday, Bleu supplied The Root with a cease and desist letter that Kardashian’s attorney sent her, as well as her own attorney’s response. The letter states that “Good American’s design team had never heard your name and never saw your samples,” but Bleu’s attorney brought out the receipts in his own letter, which shows that Kardashian and her team purchased tons of items in 2016. Kardashian ordered fishnet tights and a custom jersey, as well as 16 other items, including a pair of briefs with “Tristan Thompson” (her current boyfriend’s name) bedazzled on them.
The letter also went on to state that Kardashian’s designs were “inspired by the 1990’s and are evocative of clothing worn by Cher and others at that time.”
Kardashian’s letter states that the claims Bleu made are false, defamatory and injurious to her reputation, and they want a retraction. They also want “[Bleu’s] trolls [to] stop attacking [Kardashian’s] social media channels.”
The McArthur Law Firm in Los Angeles represents Bleu, and this is not its first time dealing with a Kardashian “kopying.” The firm once represented Vlada Haggerty, whose artwork was copied by Kylie Jenner when she launched her Lip Kit products.
Bleu attorney Stephen Charles McArthur said:
It is not illegal for Khloé to copy Destiney’s designs—it is just tacky, disrespectful and in bad taste. ... Destiney has a constitutionally protected right to inform others that Khloé Kardashian has copied her designs. She will not silently abdicate that right in response to a frivolous, two-bit email from you threatening legal action. ... If you continue this meritless bullying and follow through with filing a lawsuit, we will welcome a court to set you straight.
Below is Bleu’s response to the cease and desist letter::