Kardashian Gets Cash, Closure for Sex Tape

Socialite drops lawsuit against Vivid Entertainment in exchange for a multilmillion-dollar settlement and a promise to stop selling the sex tape she made several years ago with then-boyfriend Ray J

By Natalie Finn May 01, 2007 1:36 AMTags

There's a reason why Ray J was only hosting Kim Kardashian look-alikes at his video release party in Las Vegas over the weekend.   

While Brandy's little bro was living it up at the Mirage's Jet nightclub in honor of Kim Kardashian Superstar, the sex tape he made several years ago with the celebrity stylist and socialite, his costar was making sure that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. 

Her rep confirmed to E! News Monday that Kardashian has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement in the invasion-of-privacy lawsuit she filed in February against porn producer Vivid Entertainment, which had obtained her home movie and was in the process of adding it to the X-rated DVD-and-download canon. 

While sources told Us Weekly, which first reported Kardashian's victory, that Vivid has also agreed to quit selling the video by the end of May, the adult-film company is presenting the resolution as more of a happy-to-oblige business arrangement. 

"We are pleased that Kim has dropped her legal action against us," Vivid cochairman Steven Hirsch, whose outfit paid an undisclosed party $1 million for the tape, said in a statement. "We met with her several times and finally reached a financial arrangement that we both feel is fair." 

One source evaluated the deal as close to $5 million, but a Vivid source told Us that the figure was closer to $3 million. 

"We've always known we had the legal right to distribute this video, which became an instant bestseller," Hirsch said, "and we've always wanted to work something out with Kim so she could share in the profit." 

That's not exactly how Kardashian, who described herself earlier this year as "disappointed and very confused" about the matter, would put it.  

"I'm just so relieved that this chapter of my life is over now," the daughter of late O.J. Simpson defense attorney Robert Kardashian and stepdaughter of Olympic medalist Bruce Jenner told In Touch Weekly. "I have so much going on in my life. I never wanted anyone to think of me as Kim Kardashian, sex tape star...I still have to live with the embarrassment and fear that one day my grandkids are going to see it." 

Well, there's not much of a chance that her grandkids won't be able to afford a high-speed Internet connection.

In addition to her high-profile gigs as model, stylist and pal to Paris Hilton, Kardashian also co-owns the ritzy Calabasas, California, boutique Dash with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe.