Ray J And Kim Kardashian's Sex Tape Drama Fully Explained (Including Legal Threats)
Kim Kardashian's infamous sex tape with her ex-boyfriend Ray J had always been a dark cloud that loomed over her head for the better part of her career. Even though it happened decades ago, it seemed to follow her no matter how successful she became. People often accuse the reality star and her mom, Kris Jenner, of intentionally releasing the tape to fast-track her career. However, Kim maintains that she never expected it to become public fodder.
"It was years ago. I was 22 years old. You know when you are young you do things with your boyfriend," she told British GQ in 2014. "Back then, I didn't think making a sex tape was even that scandalous. He was my boyfriend of years and years. Lots of people I know have done it and are doing it." Steven Hirsch, the founder and co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment — the company that released the tape — told Page Six that Kim was against making it public. He told the outlet, "Ultimately did sell us the footage so we had the ability to put it out and distribute it." There were even reports that it had been a $5 million deal.
For many years after the tape's release, Kim managed to distance herself from the salacious flick that had made her famous. However, in September 2021, Wack 100 — Ray J's former manager — let it slip in a"Bootleg Kev" podcast that a second part of the tape was in his possession.
Kanye West got involved
Both Kim Kardashian and Ray J slammed Wack 100's claims about a second tape, with Kim's lawyer, Marty Singer, clarifying in a statement to TMZ that there's no truth to his assertions. "The claim that there is an unreleased sex tape is unequivocally false," he said. Ray J shared the same sentiment, writing in an Instagram comment that all he wanted was to move on and be left alone. "I been staying off the Raydar – Just staying focused and being humble and thankful for all the blessings I'm receiving," he penned. "How can I show off growth and maturity if this kinda of stuff keeps happening?"
It didn't end there, of course. As with all things, Kanye "Ye" West somehow got involved, telling Hollywood Unlocked in January 2022 that he retrieved the alleged sex tape from Ray J. "I met this man at the airport, then got on a red-eye, came back, delivered it to her at 8 a.m. in the morning." He also claimed that once Kim Kardashian got ahold of the footage, she was in tears as the tape represented "how much she's been used." Kim's team later noted that nothing incriminating was found on the laptop.
That didn't stop them from featuring the drama on "The Kardashians," where Kim said, "Kanye did this for me, but he also did this for my kids," after her ex hand-delivered the computer to her.
Ray J didn't like that the issue was brought up on The Kardashians
In fairness to Ray J, he had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, but what ticked him off were the lies that were apparently being spread by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Shortly after "The Kardashians" episode aired, he wrote on Instagram: "All of this is a lie smh — Can't let them do this anymore — so untrue."
To tell his side of the story, the singer spoke with Daily Mail for an exclusive tell-all. He revealed he was never in possession of any sex tapes, nor did he ever leak anything to the public. In fact, he said it was Kim who kept their intimate tapes in the past. Additionally, he said that the sex tape was never a leak and was instead "a deal and a partnership" between him, Kris Jenner, and Kim. He also expressed frustration over Kim's joke about him possibly assaulting her in the past (she joked on the show that he might have filmed her without her consent). However, in the purported screenshots of his exchange with Kim, the SKIMS founder apologized and promised to release a statement. True enough, a TMZ report had a source clarifying that the comment was meant to be "funny and dramatic."
Kris Jenner went on a lie detector test to refute Ray J's claims
Amid all the back and forth, Kris Jenner appeared on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" and participated in the lie detector test segment. Corden confronted her and asked if she had anything to do with the release of Kim Kardashian and Ray J's sex tape, which she denied. The man administering the polygraph, John Grogan, then confirmed that she was telling the truth. "Oh, I like that. We cleared that up," Jenner noted.
After getting wind of Kris' public denial, Ray J took to Instagram to refute Kris' claims and threatened to sue for defamation. "YOU [f***ed] with THE WRONG BLACK MAN," he wrote in a since-deleted post, per The U.S. Sun. He also claimed that Grogan was a fraud (interestingly, there is some evidence that points to this). In a subsequent Instagram Live, Ray J went off and doubled down on his claims that he, Kim, and Kris had inked a deal with Vivid Entertainment many moons ago to publicly release his sex tape with the reality star. What's more shocking is he claimed that Kris had asked them to film multiple versions of the tape so she could pick the best one.
In another Instagram video, he discussed the legal actions he intended to take against the Kardashians but decided to leave things be for now. "I got a lot more to show, but I'm gonna leave it at that for a minute," The Cut reported that he said. "This ain't over."