As he continues to recover from injuries sustained from an early September car accident, Kevin Hart is requesting a postponement of legal battles. According to court documents obtained by Radar Online, the 40-year-old comedian and actor has officially requested more time to respond to the emotional distress and invasion of privacy lawsuit filed against him by Monica Sabbag.
Hart’s attorneys filed a Stipulation Extending Time for Defendants to Respond to Complaint by Not More Than 30 Days on Friday, Oct. 25, documents obtained from Central District Court of California show. If granted, Hart would have to respond to by Nov. 25.
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“It is hereby stipulated and agreed, by and between the undersigned attorneys for the respective parties that the time for defendant, Kevin Darnell Hart, to move, answer or otherwise respond to plaintiff’s complaint with any and all responsive pleadings is hereby extended up to and including November 25, 2019,” the court papers read.
Sabbag had filed the lawsuit against Hart, his former friend Jonathan Todd Jackson and Fameolous (the website that published Hart and Sabbag’s sex tape) in September for alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and invasion of privacy. She requested $60 million in damages, claiming that that Hart “negligently or intentionally authorized, allowed and otherwise permitted Jackson access to Hart’s hotel room suite at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and breached their duty of care to M Sabbag.”
She alleged that Jackson “secretly videotaped without her knowledge of consent, while she was engaged in private, consensual sexual relationships with Hart in Hart’s private bedroom suite at the Cosmopolitan.”
Although a judge in late September dismissed the lawsuit due to “lack of diversity jurisdiction” and “lack of subject matter jurisdiction,” Sabbag re-filed the lawsuit and Hart was again served earlier this month.
This is not the first of Hart’s legal proceedings to be affected by his September car accident. Following the Sept. 1 car accident, in which Hart sustained three spinal fractures – two in the thoracic part of his spine and one in the lumbar – the trial in his ongoing battle with his former business partners, Stand Up Digital, was postponed.
Although the parties were scheduled to meet on Oct. 1 to discuss updates, Hart again asked for another postponement. In court documents, it was alleged that the comedian was still having difficulty walking and therefore needed more time to recover before he could focus on any legal matters.
“Defendant Kevin Hart just started physical rehabilitation and will not be ambulatory for at least another two months,” the documents read.
The status of that lawsuit remains unclear. Hart is currently continuing his months-long recovery. Although he has returned to work in a limited capacity, he is not expected to fully step back into the business until sometime after the new year.
