A past lawsuit filed against Diana Jenkins by WhatsApp founder Jan Koum has been uncovered.
Years after The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member settled the lawsuit, which accused her of threatening to call the cops on a Black security guard, who had confronted her about her staff cutting down plants on Jan’s property, fans are learning more about the claims against the newbie, who was accused of making “racially insensitive” comments to a Black content creator on Instagram just days ago.
According to court documents obtained by Radar Online on June 22, Diana was described in the lawsuit as a “Karen” and nightmare neighbor by Jan, who accused her of “trespass, negligence, and violation of common-law right to privacy” as he resided in a home next to her Pacific Coast Highway property in Malibu, California.
In September 2019, Jan shared, Diana told her gardeners to cut down a series of trees and hedges, worth a reported tens of thousands of dollars, after first telling Jan’s team that they would be working and may need access to his property to ensure they wouldn’t leave behind a mess. Then, after reportedly giving Diana’s staffers the access requested, Jan’s team discovered the gardeners were illegally cutting down his trees, and his security guard, Kenneth Nelson, who is Black, requested they stop.
Amid the encounter, Diana, who allegedly hoped to expand her view of the ocean as she attempted to unload her $125 million mansion, reportedly came onto the property to ask who the man was before suggesting she had every right to clip the shrubs.
“Jenkins immediately launched into a tirade, claiming that she had just paid $10,000 to have those hedges trimmed,” Jan’s complaint read.
Diana reportedly went on to tell the security guard that she would not cease operations and threatened to call the cops.
“Jenkins again rebuffed Agent Nelson, saying that she would not let them stop and insisting that if Agent Nelson, an African-American male, refused to comply with her demands, she was going to call the police on him because ‘you are in violation of the code,'” the lawsuit stated.
After police arrived at the scene, Diana allegedly lied about the events that were taking place and made threats against everyone — cops included.
“[She] became enraged and falsely asserted that she was being harassed for being a woman. She then sought to intimidate two of [Koum’s] employees by threatening to file bogus criminal charges against them, even though they had done nothing but ask Jenkins why she was cutting down trees on the Property without permission,” the complaint explained.
According to the lawsuit, Diana told police she had been confronted by four armed, screaming men who threatened to call the police on her.
Jan requested a minimum of $70,000 in damages, and he noted that Diana had previously been fined $500,000 for false advertising.
Months later, the lawsuit was settled.
Earlier this month, after being seen telling a woman that “it can’t feel good being a Black content creator,” Diana defended her statement, saying that she thought “Black content” was a “title referring to a page that would be focused on snarky content.”
“Please understand I am not from this country…so deeply sorry. I’m devastated that this was taken to mean something racially insensitive,” she added.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 12 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.