Kim Kardashian has been slammed for having “no integrity” for staying close pals with Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis after he was accused of severe physical and sexual assault charges. Katinka Blackford Newman, the director of the new TNT documentary RICH & SHAMELESS: Girls Gone Wild Exposed, shared her thoughts on Kim’s ties with the 49-year-old, who has had endless run-ins with the law over the years.
In the past, he’s been convicted of bribery, false imprisonment, tax evasion, and assault causing significant bodily injury, to name a few, having also pled no contest to child abuse and prostitution in 2003. Katina, who conducted a thorough investigation into Joe’s private life to piece together the two-hour documentary — which aired over the weekend — believes that Kim had no morals for sticking by Joe despite his past. The film producer and entrepreneur allegedly helped Kim land a multi-million dollar deal to distribute her sex tape with Ray J in early 2007 before being regularly spotted out and about with the famous family in Los Angeles.
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It’s believed that Kim and Joe are still friends to this day, which Katinka founds particularly surprising since Kim claims to have been an advocate of women’s rights and criminal justice. “Women like Jannel trusted Joe Francis because of his celebrity status and his friendship with the Kardashians and so on,” Katinka told The Sun. “I was making a film about a sleazy pornographer, but halfway through the production process, we realized it was a much bigger story. It was a story about a violent abuser.”
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“Girls Gone Wild no longer operates, but his legacy lives on in the trauma of the women he abused. The lessons we can learn from his story are highly relevant. He was allowed to get away with it because of his celebrity friends,” she continued. “We approached about 100 celebrities for comment, and it was absolutely no comment, they have done a disappearing act and didn’t want to take part in the program. There will always be sexual predators like Joe Francis but I think there is a responsibility for celebrities.”
Katinka also recalled the time Kim and some of her siblings famously wore “Free Joe Franchis” shirts during which time he was facing a string of serious charges, which has begged the question why the Kardashians were so supportive of their pal despite all the accusations that had been made about him and his private life.
“Well, what were they thinking of?” Katinka added. “He was facing serious abuse charges at the time. I really wonder what the Kim Kardashian of 2022 would say to the Kim K of 2008 because she purports to be an advocate of women’s rights and criminal justice and so on.”