Kevin Hart has been embroiled in drama surrounding a sex tape scandal since 2017. Now, a new lawsuit indicates that this situation isn’t ending anytime soon. According to Rolling Stone, on Wednesday, the actor/comedian’s former friend Jonathan “J.T.” Jackson filed a civil lawsuit for breach of contract against the “Fight Night” star. He is seeking $12 million in damages.
As previously reported by The Root, in 2018 Jackson was arrested and charged with four felony counts in connection with an alleged extortion attempt involving a leaked sex tape of Hart. The charges were later dropped against Jackson and the superstar released a video on Instagram in 2021 clearing Jackson and declaring that he was “happy that that chapter in my life is over.” However, it appears that Jackson has taken issue with the exact wording of Hart’s statement.
In the civil lawsuit, he claims that Hart was obligated to use contractually agreed upon wording that would clear Jackson’s name and reputation, but Kevin used his own phrasing. The “Central Intelligence” actor was supposed to say, “I lost someone close to me that I loved and still have very much love for, or high levels of love for, and I’m proud to say that all charges against J.T. Jackson have been dropped, and he is not guilty and had nothing to do with it.”
However, Hart said, “J.T. Jackson has recently been found not guilty, and those charges have been dropped against him, and I can finally speak on what I once couldn’t.” The Philadelphia native omitted the part where he was supposed to say Jackson “had nothing to do with it.”
“The specificity of the agreed-upon verbiage was not a mere formality; it was the cornerstone of the Contract’s intent to provide a clear, unequivocal public clarification of Plaintiff’s innocence regarding the extortion allegations that Hart helped fabricate and disseminate,” the complaint states. “Hart’s departure from this verbiage represents not just a contractual breach but a significant setback in Plaintiff’s arduous journey toward reputational rehabilitation and professional recovery. This breach by Hart has inflicted further damage on Plaintiff, undermining the very essence of the Contract and the trust that facilitated its formation.”
Hart has not commented on the civil lawsuit at this time.