It’s been 15 years since Kim Kardashian’s sex tape with Ray J was released to the public, and the parties involved are still arguing over who’s responsible for the “leak.” After Kris Jenner took a lie detector test to say she did not help her daughter release the tape, Kardashian’s ex-boyfriend vehemently called out the famous mother/daughter duo again, maintaining that the three of them released the sex tape together. While the singer pulled out plenty of receipts in over an hour’s worth of video on Instagram, one particular email proved that he and the reality star both made a lot of money, very quickly, back in 2007.
Kim Kardashian, Superstar was released by Vivid Entertainment in March 2007, and per TMZ, Vivid CEO Steve Hirsch sent an email to Kardashian on May 1, 2007, to say that the tape had made $1,424,636.63 in revenue in its first six weeks. Over $1.25 million of that was in DVD sales. In Ray J’s Instagram video, he said their initial deal was that he and Kardashian would receive $400,000 plus 12.5 percent of the profits, and those figures were reflected in Hirsch's email.
Along with the initial payout, Kim Kardashian and Ray J continue to profit from the tape to this day. Pornhub reported in 2017 — the 10th anniversary of the tape’s release — that the video’s earnings were around $100 million, with the former couple each taking a percentage of that. TMZ partner toofab.com said at the time that the singer, whose actual name is William Ray Norwood Jr., was still making around $360,000 per year off of the tape, with his ex-girlfriend earning at least that much, if not more.
Even 15 years later, the sex tape that made the reality TV star and businesswoman a public figure still gets referenced by the famous family. She herself joked about it — and Kris Jenner’s rumored role in its release — during her zinger-filled monologue for Saturday Night Live last October. The topic also resurfaced as a storyline in the first season of the family’s Hulu reality show The Kardashians, when Kim’s son, Saint, supposedly came across an ad for a second sex tape while he was playing Roblox.
In another episode of The Kardashians, Kanye West flew to meet Ray J to supposedly get the hard drive containing the sex tape, thus ending the decade-plus-long drama. It was at that time that the "One Wish" performer started to speak out, saying that “all of this is a lie.”
Whether or not the public will ever know the whole story behind the release of Kim Kardashian’s sex tape, there’s no arguing that she and Ray J made some serious cash off of it — and apparently continue to do so.
We’ll have to see if any of the current Ray J drama makes its way into Season 2 of The Kardashians, which will premiere to Hulu subscribers on Thursday, September 22. Be sure to check out CinemaBlend's 2022 TV Schedule to see what other premieres are coming up soon.
