*Kevin Hart is fighting to keep his 2017 sex tape scandal out of his legal battle with a former assistant. He has asked a judge to block Montia Sabbag, the woman in the video, from taking the stand, TMZ reports.
Hart sued Miesha Shakes, who worked for him from 2017 to 2020, after she discussed his private life in an interview with blogger Tasha K. He claims she violated a nondisclosure agreement she signed when she left his company. He is seeking unspecified damages.
Shakes argues the agreement doesn’t hold up because Hart never met his end of the deal. She also questions how much damage she could have done to his image. According to TMZ, she pointed to his past controversies, including the Sabbag scandal, to make that case.
Shakes listed Sabbag as a possible witness and hopes to question her about the incident and the investigation that followed. She plans to testify herself and wants Hart on the stand, too.
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Hart’s lawyers say Shakes never consulted them about her witness list. They argue Sabbag knows nothing relevant and was named only to embarrass him. Hart wants testimony limited to himself, Shakes, and Tasha K. He also wants Shakes to justify any other witnesses.
The scandal dates to 2017, when someone covertly recorded Hart and Sabbag’s sexual encounter in a Las Vegas hotel room. Sabbag later accused him of taking part in the recording without her consent and sued for $60 million in 2019.
Hart has denied any role. “I did not participate in any videotaping or recording of Sabbag, either while she and I were engaged in sexual relations or at any other time, nor do I know who did,” he said in a sworn declaration. He also denied conspiring with anyone to record her.
Sabbag’s claims never reached a verdict. A federal judge tossed her case in 2020. A California court dismissed her follow-up suit without prejudice in June 2023, and a judge refused to revive it in February 2024, TheGrio reported.
The fallout also sparked a separate $12 million suit against Hart from his former friend Jonathan “J.T.” Jackson, EURweb reported in 2024.
Hart has already settled with Tasha K, according to Complex. His case against Shakes is ongoing.
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