Is his time up? Younes Bendjima’s alleged victim, a Coachella security guard who claims that the model assaulted him during the 2018 music festival, asked a judge to rule in his favor in January.
Us Weekly obtained court documents in which Mario Herrera requested that Bendjima lose the case by default on January 28 because he has not responded to the plaintiff’s complaint. The guard already asked for such a judgment to take place in October 2018, but his request was rejected because the court needed proof that the lawsuit was served to the 25-year-old.
According to the statement of damages filed by Herrera, the Coachella employee believes he is owed $5.35 million. Bendjima was served the papers at his West Hollywood residence on January 28.
Us reported in September 2018 that Bendjima was sued by Herrera for allegedly attacking the guard at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. According to Herrera, the incident occurred when the former boxer tried to follow his then-girlfriend, Kourtney Kardashian, into a single-gender restroom. The guard claimed that when he told Bendjima he would not be allowed to go into the facility with the 39-year-old reality star, the Algeria native allegedly lifted the plaintiff in the air, slammed him against a wall and yelled profanities at him. Herrera alleged that his injuries were so extensive that he had to be treated at a hospital.
Herrera sued on the basis of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. “Being a celebrity does not excuse bad conduct,” his lawyer told TMZ at the time. “You can’t go around hurting people who are just doing their job and that’s all Mr. Herrera was doing, his job.”
Bendjima was threatened with another lawsuit in August 2018. An attorney for Bennett Sipes, whom the model punched outside of a West Hollywood restaurant in March of last year, told Us at the time that Kardashian’s ex, in addition to Drake and Odell Beckham Jr., had been notified that the restaurant employee would file a suit if they did not reach a settlement. In video footage released by TMZ in August, the rapper, 32, and the athlete, 26, watched as Bendjima assaulted the victim, though they did not participate in the altercation.
The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star split from her on-again, off-again boyfriend in August after nearly two years together. A source told Us at the time that the romance “ran its course,” while another insider added: “She ended it because it just wasn’t working anymore.”
With reporting by Marjorie Hernandez
