TikTok influencer ordered to pay US$1.75 million for destroying manager’s marriage

TikTok influencer Brenay Kennard will have to pay US$1.75 million after she was found liable for criminal conversation and alienation of affection. (WRAL via CNN Newsource)

North Carolina -- A North Carolina woman will have to pay US$1.75 million after a jury found her liable for destroying a Durham couple’s marriage.

The lawsuit filed in Durham County Court accused Brenay Kennard – an influencer with nearly 3 million followers on TikTok and 274,000 followers on Instagram – of seducing and having an affair with her manager, Tim Montague.

“She has received justice from losing her husband and the father of her children,” said Robonetta Jones, who was the attorney for Akira Montague, Tim Montague’s ex wife.

The jury found Kennard liable for criminal conversation and alienation of affection.

North Carolina’s alienation of affection law allows a spouse to sue the person they blame for an affair that ends a marriage. North Carolina is one of the few states that allows jilted spouses to sue someone for interfering in their marriage.

Akira Montague, who brought the suit to civil court, married Tim Montague on Oct. 20, 2018, according to the lawsuit.

Akira Montague claimed the affair caused her mental anguish, damage to her health and deprived her children of a two-parent household.

Kennard slammed the verdict saying Akira Montague knew her marriage was over and allowed the affair.

“She gave her consent,” Kennard said. “She said it was okay because she knew her marriage was over with, and it was done.”

The alleged affair played out both in the manager’s home, and on Kennard’s social media, Akira Montague claimed.

Tim Montague eventually left his wife for Kennard.

In previous North Carolina cases involving alienation of affection, plaintiffs have received millions of dollars.

In 2011, Carol Puryear was ordered to receive $30 million from Betty Devin. Carol Puryear was the former wife of Donald Puryear, who owns a trucking company in Raleigh. The settlement is the largest of its kind in North Carolina history, according to court records.

In 2018, NFL star Fletcher Cox was sued by a North Carolina man named Joshua Jeffords, who claimed the football player had an affair with his wife. The lawsuit ended in an undisclosed settlement.

In 2021, former state Sen. Rick Gunn settled a lawsuit filed by Arthur Johns for $3 million. Gunn was accused of having a long-running affair with Johns’ wife, who was Gunn’s legislative assistant.