Accused LeAnn Rimes Bully Says She Has A Right To Hate The Singer

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The woman accused of bullying LeAnn Rimes into treatment has finally spoken out, and she’s neither sorry nor convinced she did anything wrong. Kimberly Smiley, a mother of four, says she’s actually the one being bullied by the singer and is looking into her own legal options for a possible countersuit.

Speaking to Radar Online, Smiley told the outlet she’s well within her rights to dislike a public figure and was doing so without consequence until Rimes got her phone number from another user and placed a call in a misguided attempt at friendship.

“She called me. She was trying to berate me into liking her. When she didn’t get her way she got frustrated. She called me ‘incredibly fucking rude.’ She was really mad. I guess she is used to people bowing down to her but I’m not that kind of person. She’s not used to people standing their ground.’”

The call in question later wound up on the Internet, which, if you believe Rimes’ story, is one of the reasons why she sought treatment for stress management. A lawsuit was filed yesterday because taping someone without their permission in California is a crime, and this entire case seems poised to come to a head in the next few months. Smiley hasn’t denied that she recorded the singer, but she has denied claims that she sent mean-spirited text messages for years. Apparently she sent such messages but not for anywhere near that amount of time.

We’ll keep you updated as this mess winds its way through the court system.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.