Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner have won another round in their defamation fight with Ray J, after a Los Angeles judge declined to throw out their claims, according to Rolling Stone.
Judge Steven Ellis ruled that Ray J, whose legal name is William Ray Norwood Jr., did not qualify for protection under California’s anti-SLAPP law. The law is meant to quickly dismiss lawsuits aimed at speech that is unlikely to succeed.
Ellis said Kardashian and Jenner had shown enough evidence to support their case. He wrote that Norwood’s statements could reasonably be understood as accusing the two women of a crime, and said a false criminal accusation is defamatory on its face.
The lawsuit stems from comments Norwood allegedly made in a 2025 TMZ interview and on a later livestream, where Kardashian and Jenner say he suggested they were, or should be, the focus of a federal racketeering investigation. The trial remains scheduled for March 6, 2028.
Norwood’s attorney said the ruling will be appealed and argued that the decision failed to protect his First Amendment rights. Norwood has denied acting maliciously and separately filed a cross-complaint over an alleged settlement agreement, with those claims sent to arbitration.
