Kim Kardashian mistakenly ID’d a NYC resident for an inmate on death row in Texas when encouraging her followers to petition for a review of his case via social media.
The “Kardashians” star intended to share a picture of inmate Ivan Cantu, but instead posted a photo of Ivan A. Cantu –– a project manager who lives in New York –– to her Instagram Story.
“To all my friends and family, I am not getting executed, some idiot who runs @kimkardashian [socials] used my picture instead of Ivan ‘Abner’ Cantu,” he shared in a since-deleted Facebook post Monday.
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He included a screenshot of Kardashian’s Instagram Story, which featured a black-and-white portrait of himself with text instructions about how to sign a petition.
The NYC resident, who is not in prison, told TMZ that he “understands that someone from Kim’s team likely shared the incorrect image by mistake,” but he wouldn’t be opposed to an apology from her.
Kardashian, 43, has since deleted the Instagram Story and issued an apologoy.
“A wrong image of Mr. Cantu was posted earlier today and I would like to apologize to the person who’s image was used in error,” she wrote in an Instagram Story.
As for the other imprisoned Cantu, the Skims founder has been urging her hundreds of millions of followers to write in to the district attorney and governor to grant a reprieve to the inmate, as he’s set to be executed in Texas on Wednesday.
Kardashian first shared a lengthy tweet about his case last month.
“I heard about Ivan Cantu’s case from Sister Helen Prejean and was really moved by it,” she tweeted, before going into detail about the case.
Cantu was found guilty by a jury of murdering his cousin, James Mosqueda, and Mosqueda’s fiancée, Amy Kitchen, in 2000. However, Cantu has vehemently maintained his innocence and claimed they were killed by rival drug dealers who allegedly threatened him the night prior to the murders.
Cantu and his attorney have continued fighting to get him off death row and most recently accused the trial’s primary witness of lying under oath.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott will ultimately determine if he will lesser his sentence, grant him a reprieve or go through with the original 2000 sentence. Cantu’s execution by lethal injection has already been postponed twice, in 2012 and in 2023.
Kardashian has been involved in criminal justice for years, ever since she began studying to be a lawyer.
The mom of four visited President Donald Trump to discuss criminal justice reform in 2019 and was even able to pardon Alice Marie Johnson –– who was serving a life sentence for a first-time drug offense.
Kardashian has since advocated for several inmates over the years.
