Blac Chyna is retaliating against the judge who oversaw her defamation case against the KarJenner family. According to court documents obtained by HollywoodLife, Chyna, born Angela White, filed a preemptory challenge against Judge Gregory W. Alarcon of the Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, claiming he was “undeniably hostile and extremely biased” in his ruling against her and her attorney, Lynne Ciani, during the case.
Per the documents, the 33-year-old also believes Alarcon’s alleged bias affected numerous aspects of the case, including “the jury making ‘key liability verdicts in her favor'” as well as her being “denied due process with regard to the jury instructions and special verdict form.”
In response, the KarJenner clan is already fighting back. Their attorney, Michael G. Rhodes, filed a 20-page opposition on Monday, May 9, arguing that Chyna and her attorney “nonetheless proceeded without complaint as Judge Alarcon presided over a 10-day trial” despite the supposed suggest issues with him.
“In the days and weeks that followed, [Chyna] and her counsel had ample time to raise her completely misguided allegations about Judge Alarcon’s impartiality, along with numerous opportunities to brief evidentiary issues, jury instructions, and the special verdict form,” the document states.
“Indeed, Judge Alarcon explicitly invited Ms. Ciani to brief issues relating to jury instructions and evidentiary issues, such as sustained objections for hearsay and lack of authenticity, which she never did,” the record continues. “Instead, Ms. Ciani first raised several of the [issues discussed in her statement of disqualification] in a written filing after the jury had begun deliberating.”
HL has reached out to both Blac Chyna and the Kardashians’ representatives for comment.
The record goes on, “Judge Alarcon demonstrated considerable tolerance towards Ms. Ciani despite her failure to understand and apply basic rules of evidence.” Additionally, the record states that Ciani is trying to “salvage” her reputation by “deflecting blame for her own shortcomings at trial and generate further publicity for Plaintiff.”
“Plaintiff’s request for disqualification should be denied for at least two reasons,” the record states. “First, Plaintiff has waived her request for disqualification by failing to seek such recourse during trial, when the purported facts constituting the grounds for disqualification allegedly occurred. Second, even if the Court entertained Plaintiff’s late request, Plaintiff’s unsubstantiated suggestions of bias on the part of Judge Alarcon come nowhere close to meeting the high burden required for his disqualification.”
The original lawsuit claimed that the Kardashians had defamed Chyna and interfered with E! to get her show, Rob and Chyna, canceled. After the verdict was reached, The Kardashians’ lawyer thanked the jury. “We are also grateful for the steady hand of Judge Alarcon in making sure that this was a fair trial. The jury sent a clear message to Ms. White and her lawyer — I hope they are listening. Justice has prevailed,” he said in a statement, received by HL.