Blac Chyna: Kardashian-Jenner family court case explained, did she date Rob Kardashian - do they have kids?

Model and reality TV star Blac Chyna’s defamation lawsuit against her ex-fiancé Rob Kardashian, and against the wider Kardashian-Jenner family, has officially gotten underway after first being filed in 2017.

This is everything you need to know about the situation.

Who is Blac Chyna?

Blac Chyna, born Angela Renée White, is an American model and socialite, strongly associated with the Kardashian family.

She was born on 11 May 1988 in Washington, D.C, and began working as a stripper initially to pay for her college tuition before ultimately deciding to focus on strpping and modelling full time, with the stage name Blac Chyna.

Chyna became popular stripping at a popular club in Miami called King of Diamonds, and in 2010 was mentioned by name in Drake’s song Miss Me, in which he said: “Call up King of Diamonds and tell Chyna it’d be worth the flight.”

From there, Chyna’s rising popularity saw her land modelling jobs with the likes of Dimepiece, Straight Stuntin and Black Men’s Magazine, and in 2011 she was cast by Kanye West to be Nicki Minaj’s stunt double in their song Monster.

Talking to XXL in 2012 about filming the music video, Chyna said: “When Nicki got on the set, I was good.

“It was good Nicki rapping to the bad Nicki, so they needed an extra body.

“They actually put her head on my body so it would look like she was rapping to herself. They had me tied up to a chair and they put her pink wig on me.”

In December 2013, Chyna launched her own online boutique called 88fin and then later that same month she also launched her own brand of fake eyelashes, called Lashed by Blac Chyna.

How is she involved with the Kardashians?

In 2011, Chyna began dating rapper Tyga after she appeared in the music video for his song Rack City. During their relationship, they had a son together, born in October 2012 called King Cairo Stevenson.

Through her relationship with Tyga, Chyna came to be friends with Kim Kardashian, however, when Chyna and Tyga broke up in 2014, and the rapper began a relationship with the just turned 18 Kylie Jenner, the Kardashian family distanced themselves from Chyna.

What ensued next was a number of social media feuds, but when talking to Elle in 2016, Chyna insisted that the digs and swipes at her didn’t bother her.

She said: “When you don’t want to be in a relationship with somebody anymore, you don’t give a f**k what they’re doing.

“I was just like, “Thank God I’m out of that situation”. And honestly, it was the best thing I could’ve done, because my life changed so much for the better.”

In early 2016, Chyna then began dating Rob Kardashian, the brother of Kim and half-brother of Kylie, and at one point the two were even engaged.

Talking about her relationship with Rob, Chyna said: “When I linked up with Rob, he was at a point where nobody could really help him.

“But I’m the type of person that likes to motivate my friends and help them figure out how they can do better. That’s how we really started off.”

She added: “Sometimes it’s just best to let people talk about it and get it off their chest. That’s how I’ve been carrying the situation with me and Rob, and so far it’s worked out.”

Since 2016, Chyna made appearances in a number of TV shows, including Keeping Up With the Kardashians, with her and Rob even getting their own show on the E! network called Rob & Chyna.

In November 2016, Chyna gave birth to her and Rob’s daughter, Dream Renée Kardashian, however it was announced the following month that the two had split. While the two got back together for a brief while, they then separated once against in February 2017.

A few months later, in July 2017, Rob posted sexually explicit pictures of Chyna on social media, and accused her of cheating on him. The incident led to Chyna successfully obtaining a temporary restraining order against him.

Lisa Bloom, one of Chyna’s attorneys, said: “Revenge porn is a form of domestic abuse and it is also a crime in California and 38 other states. It is wrong.

“We are just delighted about the victory we had this morning.”

Talking to Good Morning America at the time, Chyna said: “This is a person that I trusted… I felt comfortable, you know, with even sending these pictures and even talking to him about certain things.”

What is the defamation lawsuit about?

Chyna first filed her defamation lawsuit against the Kardashian and Jenner family back in 2017, with the trial now moving forward following the jury selection that took place on Monday (18 April).

It has been alleged that the Kardashian and Jenner family conspired with TV executives at E! to cancel Chyna and Rob’s show, Rob & Chyna, and is subsequently suing the family for $100 million dollars (£76 million), alleging defamation and interference with contracts.

Her attorney, Lynne Ciani, said: “Chyna went from being the star on E!’s number one hit show at $92,500 (£71,000) per episode to being off the airwaves entirely.”

Ciani added: “The defendants’ illegal conduct not only cost Chyna millions and millions of dollars; their conduct was emotionally devastating to her.”

Kris Jenner falsely accused Chyna of physically abusing Jenner’s son Rob Kardashian in a broader effort to force the couple’s reality show Rob & Chyna to be cancelled, Ciani also told the Los Angeles court.

The Kardashians’ lawyer, Michael G Rhodes, has said that the reality show was cancelled by the E! Network not because of any machinations by the Kardashians, but because the couple broke up.

He said: “There is no Rob & Chyna show if there is no Rob and Chyna.”

Both sides agree that on December 4 2016, the day that Chyna and Rob Kardashian celebrated the renewal of their show for a second season, the two got into an argument that permanently damaged their relationship.

The differing accounts of that day will take up much of the trial which is expected to last seven to 10 days.