Former E! Exec Slams Claim Kylie Jenner And Khloe Kardashian Influenced Rob And Chyna's Cancellation
Blac Chyna's trial against the Kardashians is reaching its fever pitch with two parties days into their court proceedings.
In her lawsuit, Chyna is adamant that the Kardashians, specifically Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and Kylie Jenner, have banded together to orchestrate the downfall of her reality TV career as they didn't think she was an ideal match for Rob Kardashian. The influencer is suing the famous family for over $100 million, with $44 million to compensate for "past economic damage" and $64 million for "future economic damage," per Buzzfeed News. However, the family continues to insist that they never conspired to have Rob and Chyna's reality show canceled. Instead, they said that they only expressed concern over their relationship upon finding out that Chyna had allegedly inflicted physical abuse on Rob.
When Kris took the stand on April 22, she told the court that she did not conspire to mess with Rob and Chyna's reality series. "I did not have any influence over the E! network," she said, per Variety. When asked why Kylie and Khloé had apparently sent a letter to the network to have the show canceled, the Kardashian matriarch said that there wasn't anything to cancel in the first place. "They had an option that they didn't exercise ... there's nothing to be canceled," she added.
On April 25, a former E! executive corroborated that the Kardashians really had nothing to do with the series being taken off the air.
Jeff Olde says the show they bought ceased to exist
Jeff Olde, former EVP of Programming and Development at E!, was the first to admit that he loved the idea of Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna having their own reality series. When he first heard the idea, he noted that they seemed like a "fun couple" with a "great, natural" relationship to be shown on TV. He never hesitated to recommend the project to the higher-ups, leading to the series being greenlit.
Olde also admitted that he thought that "Rob and Chyna" was "promising" as the first season delivered "good ratings." They even had a plan in place for Season 2, but it had to be put on pause when the supposed physical altercation between the couple happened. He went on to say that they hoped Season 2 would still be a go, but the two already stopped talking at the time. "There was no more Rob and Chyna. That was not the show we bought," he shared, according to a Nicki Swift reporter in the courtroom.
The show was eventually canceled, with the network paying Chyna a $100,000 kill fee. But he said that whatever intervening the Kardashians did had very little influence on the final decision E! had made. When pressed by Chyna's lawyer about Kylie Jenner's alleged emails begging him to pass on the 2nd season, Olde stated, "I don't take direction from 17-year-olds, to be honest with you." He added that he understood their reaction as plain concern for their family.