Three sites have published retractions after reporting claims that Kim Kardashian West was cheating on her husband, Kanye West, with Oakland Raiders football player Marquette King.
The rumor was published on Terez Owen’s eponymous website, which bills itself as the “world’s most popular sports gossip blog.” From there, sites including 247 Sports and the Inquisitr republished the claims before deleting and retracting. iMediaEthics has written to all of the outlets to learn if they had been threatened with legal action. We also contacted Kardashian’s lawyer and a rep for the Oakland Raiders for comment.
Owens deleted the story and published this retraction on his website
“We posted a story last Friday linking Kim Kardashian to Raiders Punter Marquette King. Our statements in our Article and the headline, that Kim Kardashian is allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair with a Raiders player is false, it was an absolute fabrication. Our Article falsely states, among other false statements, ‘rumors that Kim Kardashian allegedly was cheating on Kanye with a Raiders player,” and that “not sure if it’s true, but now we’ve been tipped off that the player in question is Marquette King, the Raiders flamboyant punter.’
“There is no truth whatsoever to our Article. Ms. Kardashian West does not even personally know this person. We received a bad tip and ran with the story, and for that we apologize. Even though we’re in the business of publishing rumors, it was irresponsible of us to publish this without any facts supporting the story.”
24/7 Sports published a lengthy retraction
“We are retracting a story we posted Saturday in which we reported a rumor published by popular sports blogger Terez Owens that Kim Kardashian West was involved in an extramarital affair with Oakland Raiders punter Marquette King. Owens has retracted his article stating, “There is no truth whatsoever” to the rumor. We are also informed by Ms. Kardashian West’s representatives that the rumor is “false” and “completely fabricated.” We apologize for our decision to repeat the rumor contained in the Owens article, which we now know to be false.”
The Inquisitr retracted:
“A story published over the weekend at the Inquisitr had attributed to false rumors and gossip regarding Kim Kardashian West and alleged extramarital affairs with Marquette King of the Oakland Raiders.
“While Inquisitr writers did not generate said rumors, the Inquisitr’s management and editorial staff would like to officially retract this story in full and apologize to Kim Kardashian West for any duress she endured as a result of these repeated rumors.”
Earlier this fall, Kardashian settled a libel lawsuit she filed against gossip website Media Take Out, after the site claimed she faked being robbed in Paris in October.
UPDATE: 12/15/2016 1:21 PM EST
CBS Sports also retracted its article about the affair rumors. Its retraction read:
“We are retracting a story we posted Saturday in which we reported a rumor published by popular sports blogger Terez Owens that Kim Kardashian West was involved in an extramarital affair with Oakland Raiders punter Marquette King. Owens has retracted his article stating, “There is no truth whatsoever” to the rumor. We are also informed by Ms. Kardashian West’s representatives that the rumor is “false” and “completely fabricated.” We apologize for our decision to repeat the rumor contained in the Owens article, which we now know to be false.”