Tag: privacy and divorce

Private Parts: Social Media and Divorce

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Your online life and social media posts, especially about your ex’s private parts, may get you in trouble in your divorce. A recent federal court decision involving former NFL player Matt Kalil and his social-media personality ex-wife Haley Kalil exposes a new way social media can harm you.

Private Parts Divorce II

Protecting the Family Jewels

Matt was the fourth overall selection in the NFL Draft and played several seasons in the NFL. Haley was Miss Minnesota, and modeled for Sports Illustrated. They married in 2015 and divorced in 2022. As of January 6, 2026, Haley had 15.9 million TikTok followers, 9.3 million Instagram followers, 8.07 million YouTube subscribers, 1.6 million Snapchat followers, and 1.3 million Threads followers.

In November 2025, fellow social-media content creator Marlon Lundgren Garcia collaborated with Haley on a livestream on the Twitch platform. During the livestream, the two discussed, among other things, Haley’s marriage and divorce.

Without using Matt’s name, Haley said that she and her (only) ex-husband are “still friends,” that he is the “greatest guy in the world,” and that he is “doing good” and is remarried with a baby. During a discussion about her marriage and divorce though, she disclosed intimate information regarding their relationship and as they continued to talk, it quickly became obvious that Haley was referring to the size of Matt’s penis.

The conversation quickly attracted extensive media attention and online commentary. Matt and his current wife had to bear the brunt of the offensive direct messages and comments on their social media accounts. Matt sued.

Social Media and Divorce

The discovery of sensitive and personal evidence is routine in divorce. Sometimes we hire private investigators and sometimes evidence falls in your lap. Social media sites are often filled with very personal information which is increasingly being used in divorce trials.

I wrote an article discussing some of the challenges with authenticating social media evidence in divorce trials, and other evidentiary rules governing the admissibility of social media evidence. There is evidentiary potential in social media sites, and there are many challenges to authenticating material downloaded from the internet. Social media websites like Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube have had an astronomical growth worldwide, and clips are showing up in divorce trials. But is the evidence introduced into trial always admissible? That may depend on many factors.

District Court Ruling

Minnesota has a law similar to Florida’s prohibiting the publication of private facts. Generally, Matt had to show Haley gave publicity to information concerning his private life that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person; and was not of legitimate concern to the public.

In Matt’s case, the federal judge found the online conversation concerned Matt’s very private parts, and “without question” could reasonably be considered highly offensive. But the case turned on something else, were the statements legitimate public interest or public curiosity?

The other major distinction is that Matt and Haley were public figures. Matt was an NFL player – even though he retired – and his marriage to Haley created a connection to a person whose public profile had continued to grow dramatically after the divorce. Even though he was retired, that did not mean he wasn’t still a celebrity.

“But all of her comments about Matt’s penis size were in the context of describing the “trauma” she suffered during her marriage, the couple’s seeking help from doctors and therapists, and ultimately the couple’s decision to divorce.  In short, Haley was discussing her life, not Matt’s, and the law generally protects a person’s speech about herself, even though such speech inevitably reveals details about others.”

For those reasons, the district court found that Haley’s remarks about the size of Matt’s penis and its impact on her health and marriage were remarks about a matter of legitimate public concern. Haley’s motion to dismiss Matt’s complaint was granted and dismissed with prejudice and on the merits.

Although this was a tort case rather than a divorce decision, it presents an increasingly common issue arising in child custody and divorce cases. Marriages generate a lot of potentially publishable information. Today, your former spouse can reach millions of people instantly. Anyone who values confidentiality should consider addressing confidentiality in their case.

The U.S. District Court decision is here.

Divorce Politics and Privacy

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Connecticut State Senator Alex Kasser’s resignation is a very public reminder about the intersection of divorce, politics and privacy. The hard won seat for Democrats is now up for grabs by state Republicans in Greenwich.

Divorce Privacy Politics

Heartless in Hartford

Last week Connecticut state senator Kasser announced she is resigning, saying her ability to do her job has been harmed by a bitter divorce battle being waged by her husband, Seth Bergstein, a top Morgan Stanley executive. In her resignation statement posted on Medium, the Democrat from Greenwich wrote:

“Seth uses his powerful position at Morgan Stanley to enable his conduct, so I must work even harder to fight for my freedom.”

The stunning move comes two years after Kasser went public with her romantic relationship with a woman who had previously run her first Senate campaign and then briefly worked in her legislative office.

Kasser told her husband more than a decade ago told she is a lesbian, according to an op-ed she wrote in The Stamford Advocate newspaper last fall. Kasser, 54, charged on Tuesday that Bergstein “has tried to destroy” that same-sex partner, Nichola Samponaro, “with lies about our relationship and harassing court motions that mention her 56 times for no relevant reason — she had nothing to do with ending my marriage. I will not stay silent as a homophobic, entitled man attacks my partner.”

Bergstein, 55, is a senior managing director and head of global services at Morgan Stanley.

Florida Divorce Privacy

I’ve written on divorce privacy issues before. Divorce privacy is an issue that comes up a lot. Divorces in court are public events, and the filed records of court proceedings are public records available for public examination.

Both the public and the media can challenge any closure order by a divorce court. The closure of court proceedings or records should only really occur when it’s necessary to comply with established public policy, to protect trade secrets; or to protect children in a divorce among other reasons.

Florida also has new rules protecting sensitive data from public view. This includes protecting Social Security, Bank Account, Debit, and Credit Card Numbers because if those numbers are included in a document, they may become part of the public record.

If information is absolutely required, there is a rule with procedures for sealing and unsealing of court records. Also, the Clerk of Court has the authority to redact or make confidential only specific information.

If sensitive information has already been filed in Court Records, you must complete and submit a “Notice of Confidential Information Within Court Filing” in order to remove or seal it.

Divorce Power Politics

It is difficult to know where the balance of power in a relationship is when a powerful state senator admits to CNBC she no longer has contact with her three children with Bergstein.

Kasser made a splash in 2018 when she became the first Democrat in nearly 90 years to win the 36th District Senate seat, which includes Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan. Her narrow victory helped Democrats end two years of splitting control of the state Senate with Republicans. Last November, she doubled her margin of victory to 2.6% to win reelection to another two-year term. Kasser said a special election would determine her successor.

“I can no longer live or work in Greenwich as it is loaded with memories of the 20 years I spent raising my children here. It is too painful to be in Greenwich now that I’ve been erased from their lives, just as their father promised would happen if I ever left him.”

The senator’s surprise announcement also comes as she prepares for her divorce trial, set to begin in September in Stamford Superior Court, where her lawyers have sought to depose three Morgan Stanley employees over what they have suggested were improper efforts by the investment bank to obtain personal financial information from her.

“It is with deep sadness that I announce my resignation as State Senator. Serving the residents of Connecticut’s 36th Senate district has been a profound honor and a great joy. However, due to personal circumstances, I cannot continue. For nearly three years, I’ve been trying to divorce Seth Bergstein. As all survivors of domestic abuse know, emancipating ourselves is an epic struggle that takes years, requires unflinching courage and all our resources — mental, physical, and financial.”

Bergstein did not immediately return a request for comment. But his matrimonial lawyer, Janet Battey, in an email response to CNBC said, “Ms. Kasser’s outrageous allegations and narrative couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“Ms. Kasser sadly continues to wage a public battle in the press while simultaneously dragging out the court proceedings,” Battey said. “Throughout the marriage, Ms. Kasser described Seth as a devoted father and patient and loving husband. Seth and his three children sought to keep this matter private, but Ms. Kasser continues to make blatantly false public statements in furtherance of her own agenda.”

“Mr. Bergstein trusts the legal system and family court and that the upcoming trial will reveal Ms. Kasser’s narrative for what it is.”

The CNBC article is here.

 

Twitter, Divorce and Privacy

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Twitter, Divorce and Privacy are in the news again after Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West’s latest string of controversial statements and Twitter sprees as a result of their widely rumored divorce. The twitter battle going on makes you wonder if there is any privacy after you file for divorce.

Divorce Privacy

Runaway

Kim Kardashian West is asking people to be understanding about husband Kanye West’s bipolar issues. After Kanye West fired off another barrage of wild tweets in which he said he’s been trying to divorce Kim Kardashian, the reality star requested compassion and empathy on behalf of those living with mental illness, including her husband.

“As many of you know, Kanye has bi-polar disorder. Anyone who has this or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand. Those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behavior know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor. People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.”

Her Wednesday morning response came after the “Jesus is King” rapper, 43, said he has recently been trying to divorce her in an overnight rant, which was scrubbed from Twitter just a few minutes after it was posted.

“I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf for ‘prison reform. Meek is my man and was respectful that’s my dog. Kim was out of line.”

It’s not clear what exactly West was referring to, but his reality star wife, who’s 39, and rapper Meek Mill both attended a criminal justice summit in November 2018.

Florida Divorce Privacy

I’ve written on divorce privacy issues before. Divorce privacy is an issue that comes up a lot. Divorces in court are public events, and the filed records of court proceedings are public records available for public examination.

Both the public and the media can challenge any closure order by a divorce court. The closure of court proceedings or records should only really occur when it’s necessary to comply with established public policy, to protect trade secrets; or to protect children in a divorce among other reasons.

Florida also has new rules protecting sensitive data from public view. This includes protecting Social Security, Bank Account, Debit, and Credit Card Numbers because if those numbers are included in a document, they may become part of the public record.

If information is absolutely required, there is a rule with procedures for sealing and unsealing of court records. Also, the Clerk of Court has the authority to redact or make confidential only specific information.

If sensitive information has already been filed in Court Records, you must complete and submit a “Notice of Confidential Information Within Court Filing” in order to remove or seal it.

I love It

In a series of tweets earlier this week, he also claimed Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, were trying to lock him up for medical reasons because of comments made during a rally in South Carolina, where he launched his 2020 presidential bid.

West told the crowd during the Charleston event that he and his wife considered an abortion when she became pregnant with their first child.

Kardashian has not publicly addressed her husband’s presidential bid, but emphasized in her recent statement that “living with bipolar disorder does not diminish or invalidate his dreams and his creative ideas, no matter how big they feel to some.”

“I understand Kanye is a public figure and his actions at times can cause strong opinions and emotions. He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressure of being an artist and Black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder.”

Kardashian, who married West in 2014, concluded the lengthy post by calling on society to use the grace they show while discussing mental health to those “who are living with it in times they need it most.”

“I kindly ask that the media give us the compassion and empathy that is needed so that we can get through this,” she wrote. “Thank you to those who have expressed concern for Kanye’s well-being and for your understanding.”

The two have four children, North, 7, Saint, 4, Chicago, 2 and Pslam, 14 months.

The New York Daily News article is here.

Photo by David Shankbone – Own work, CC BY 3.0