The Kardashian sisters were sued on Monday by an investment firm seeking more than $180 million over their ill-fated beauty line.
Kourtney, Kim and Khloe Kardashian were named as defendants in the civil lawsuit filed by Hillair Capital Management in Los Angeles, according to an article by TMZ.
In 2012, the sisters teamed up with Boldface to launch a makeup collection under the name “Kardashian Khroma.” They were later forced to change the name to “Kardashian Beauty” due to a trademark dispute with the word “Khroma.” But when Boldface encountered financial problems, Hillair bought the company in 2014 and put $10 million into the venture with the Kardashians as a joint owner.
But Hillair now claims the reality stars refused to promote the line, causing it to fail. The management firm maintains in its court papers that it “agreed to put up millions of dollars to help the Kardashians salvage their struggling” line, only to have the trio allegedly damage the brand themselves, even though they were to be the “faces of the line, and actively promote, market and support the line.” The Kardashians are accused of breach of contract, fraud and deceit, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty, promissory estoppel and negligent misrepresentation.
Hillair is seeking to recoup not just its $10 million investment, but also lost profits. That’s estimated to be up to $180 million. The company alleges the Kardashians purposefully sabotaged the contract in hopes they could get a “better, more lucrative deal” elsewhere, but never found someone to buy out Hillair, and instead threatened to pull their names from the products.
