When Kardashians Sued Robert Kardashian Sr's Widow Ellen Pearson Over His 'Secret Diary' For $500K

The Kardashians are known for their wealth and influence, but in 2013, a "secret diary" written by the late Robert Kardashian Sr. was causing strife within the famous family. In a bizarre turn of events, the late Kardashian's handwritten journals were given to In Touch by his wife, Ellen Kardashian.

The late attorney had painted a tragic childhood portrayal of Kim, Kourtney, and Khloé in the journal entries, dated between 1989 and 1990. Robert also presented a damning portrait of his ex-wife Kris Jenner. Excerpts from the diaries revealed alarming inside information about the mother and her alleged affair with teenage soccer player Todd Waterman. In retaliation, the Kardashians filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court alleging copyright infringement against their step-mom Ellen Pearson/Kardashian.

According to the diary entries, Kris allegedly abandoned her children, who were all under the age of 11, for days at a time. “She doesn’t leave a number in case of emergency. She doesn’t care!” Robert Sr. had written on Dec. 15, 1989. “She left [the] kids and screwed all night!” Only 10 days after that entry, he chronicled that “Kris couldn’t get her act together” to spend Christmas with her children, “I was home alone with 4 kids.”

The Kardashians claimed they were unaware of the diary entries until it was published in January under the headings The Secret Kardashian Diaries and More Heartbreak for Khloe: Secret Kardashian Diaries Revealed by the leading publication. As per Court House News, the leading tabloid had also published the following entry from Aug. 24, 1989: "Kris was kicking and beating [Kim] and said she was going to kill her! Kim was hysterical." 

The Kardashians alleged that Pearson had hidden the diary and the family photos "with the express intent to one day capitalize on and exploit the valuable property and celebrity of the famous Robert Kardashian, and/or to deprive the Kardashian siblings of the benefit of private information and memories about their family, family and lives as children, all contrary to the express wishes and bequeathments of Robert Kardashian."

According to the family, the content was worth "hundreds of thousands of dollars," and Pearson expected to license—or had already licensed—more journal excerpts to (nonparty) Bauer Publishing LP for publishing in a "bookazine" format. "Any such claim or assertion now of ownership in the property in defense of this action would constitute an admission that defendant Pearson defrauded the court and her creditors in her bankruptcy action, as it would be tantamount to having hidden extremely valuable assets and property from the estate," the lawsuit had stated. The Kardashians demanded the return of their property and sued Ellen for $500,000 for copyright violation and conversion. 

As per EOnline, in 2014 the Kardashians officially settled their lawsuit with Robert Kardashian Sr.'s former wife Ellen. "Kris Jenner and Kimberly, Khloé, Kourtney and Robert (Jr) Kardashian have settled their lawsuit against Ellen Pearson Kardashian. The diaries and photos have been returned to the Kardashians, and all other terms of the settlement are confidential. Ellen will continue her state court action for defamation," attorney Even Spiegel had stated back then. 

Editor's note: This article was originally published on October 7, 2023. It has since been updated.