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Kim, Kanye Sue YouTube Co-Founder Over Leaked Proposal Video

By Aditi Mukherji, JD on November 01, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are suing YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley for allegedly posting a video of their proposal online.

If you're imagining some guy creeping on the couple during a private moment, think again. The proposal took place at AT&T Park (which Kanye rented from the San Francisco Giants), and another company had exclusive rights over the footage of the romantic moment.

The suit is more about allegedly violating a private contract than interfering with a private moment.

Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

Kardashian and West claim in the lawsuit that Hurley was not invited to the exclusive party, but schemed his way into the ballpark and then posted footage of the proposal to MixBit -- his new venture, a collaborative video app -- as a promotional stunt. Kim and Kanye allegedly allowed Hurley to stay only after he signed a non-disclosure agreement and took a picture holding it, reports the New York Daily News.

Kimye claims Hurley violated the NDA by posting the video of the proposal on MixBit and then tweeting it out to his followers. He also allegedly issued a press release about the clip.

The couple may have a pretty strong claim here. A common practice, celebrity non-disclosure agreements serve to keep certain information under wraps for a period of time. Businesses often use these agreements to ensure that their valuable trade secrets and plans are not disseminated to the general public and particularly to their competition.

Kimye's fighting words: "Hurley proceeded to try to turn the event into one starring himself, broadcasting the images he knew were the exclusive property rights of someone else," the lawsuit says, according to the Daily News.

Enforceability of NDA

NDAs can potentially be struck down as unenforceable when they don't specify a contract period or list absurdly high liquidated damages. But neither of those issues seem to be present here.

In this case, the NDA was likely only in effect until MC Cable Television, the company that had exclusive rights over the proposal footage, aired the romantic/PR moment for the world to see. In other words: Until after Kimye could monetize their special moment -- something Kim Kardashian never does, right?

Kardashian and West are suing Hurley for unspecified damages, but the figure is bound to be as large as the proposal's profitability.

Ah, "love" in a swanky fishbowl.

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