Far-right political pundit Candace Owens has been hit with a $20 million defamation lawsuit by former Republican congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik, who claims Owens smeared her.
Klacik is a fellow conservative commentator who went viral for her “Black people don’t have to vote Democrat” campaign for the late Rep. Elijah Cumming’s congressional seat last year. Per the Baltimore Sun, she’s seeking $20 million in damages from Owens because the latter reportedly made untrue allegations about Klacik, which resulted in the loss of a book deal.
Klacik is accusing Owens of “falsely” saying she was a “madame” of a strip club prior to her political career. “Baseless character assassination has no place in political dialogue‚” said Klacik’s attorney Jacob Frenkel. “The defendant chose to use her huge social media platform to attack a respected Baltimore political figure; we are using the proper forum—the power of the courts—to respond. The detail in Ms. Klacik’s lawsuit speaks for itself.”
The lawsuit was filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court and relates to a video Owens posted in June 2021. In the clip, Owens said Klacik was involved in “money laundering, tax fraud and campaign fraud,” and had paid vendors to “move money off the books.” She also said Klacik used to recruit strippers for a strip club owned by Klacik’s husband, although Owens admitted she is “not an investigative journalist” and “could not confirm” any of the claims.
Retweeting an article about the suit on Wednesday, Owens wrote, “LOLLL 😂😂 Kimberly Klacik is a former stripper fraud who has me blocked on EVERY social media account since I exposed her shady FEC filing” and insisted “every person who gave to her campaign should demand answers about where her money went.”
Klacik sent numerous letters to Owens asking for the video to be taken down, and said that Owens “continues to support and encourage the harassment” of her. “She has falsely accused me, private citizens & businesses of federal crimes so I would like this to play out in court rather [than] social media,” said Klacik in a public statement on the Instagram video in June.
Owens, who rubs shoulders with the likes of controversial conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, is perhaps best known for her enthusiastic support of Donald Trump. Just this month, she falsely claimed the CDC was putting people at high risk from COVID-19 into camps to “shield” them. She also suggested in April that the guilty verdict against George Floyd’s murderer Derek Chauvin was influenced by “mob justice.”
Klacik gained notoriety last year with her campaign as the Republican nominee for Maryland’s 7th congressional district in the April 2020 special election and the November 2020 election. In her infamous campaign videos, which were filmed in Baltimore, she claimed “Black lives don’t matter to Democrats.” Trump expressed his support for the ad, retweeting it when he still had an account.
Klacik lost in both elections to Democratic nominee Kweisi Mfume.
