Kevin Hart to woman suing him: You brought this on yourself
The Philly-born comic says in court documents that the woman “brought about the alleged damages and injuries” herself.
Kevin Hart has responded to a lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed the actor’s bodyguards seriously injured her outside a screening of his Philadelphia-shot film, The Upside, saying in court documents that she “brought about the alleged damages and injuries” herself.
Carmen Marrero filed the suit in June, alleging that Hart’s security team “violently contacted” her “without … provocation” when she was leaving a screening of The Upside in New York City in January. As a result, Marrero’s suit says, she fell and suffered injuries that included a broken eye socket while attempting to avoid the crowd outside the event. Marrero is seeking unspecified damages.
Hart’s legal team responded to the suit this week, saying that Marrero knew of the “hazard” of the situation and that any injuries were “caused in whole or in part” by her own “carelessness [and] contributory negligence.”
Hart’s attorneys also asked that Marrero’s complaint be dismissed, saying the suit is “wholly without merit and its initiation is deemed frivolous conduct.”
Earlier this month, Hart’s legal team pushed back against another complaint, calling Montia Sabbag’s $60 million suit filed in connection with a 2017 sex tape “baseless.” Also filed this year, that suit claims that defendants including Hart and his former friend Jonathan Todd Jackson filmed a sexual encounter between Sabbag and the Philly-born comic without her knowledge or consent, and released it online.
Sabbag’s initial claim was dismissed in September over procedural issues, and she refiled the claim. That amended complaint was also dismissed, and Sabbag has asked for an extension to file a second amended complaint, saying she had been involved in “resolution talks” with several defendants in the case but not with Hart.
“Plaintiff is improperly attempting to drag out the litigation in order to delay the inevitable determination that her claims are, in fact, baseless,” Hart’s attorney said in court documents. Sabbag filed another amended complaint this week, court records indicate.
Hart has only recently begun making his way back into the public eye following a car crash in September in which he suffered serious injuries. Earlier this month, he accepted an honor at the E! People’s Choice Awards in his first public appearance since the crash.
“First and foremost, thank God, because I definitely don’t have to be here,” Hart said at the ceremony. “Being that I am, it makes me appreciate life even more. It makes me appreciate the things that really matter: family. I want to thank my wife and kids, who really stepped up to the plate for me.”
» READ MORE: Kevin Hart posts emotional Instagram video about car crash recovery
Additionally, Hart is preparing to release a docuseries with Netflix next month that follows the comic over the last year and a half. Titled Don’t F— This Up, the show is scheduled to start streaming Dec. 27.