What happened to Kimberly Diei? University of Tennessee student awarded $250,000 in ‘WAP’ social media suit

Kimberly Diei, also known as Klassy Kasi, recently won the lawsuit she has been fighting against the University of Tennessee. Diei is a former pharmacy student from the University who sued it for threatening to expel her for using the song WAP in a post on X (formerly Twitter). As the fight came to an end with a settlement that Diei earned, she received $250,000 in the suit.

In 2021, Diei posted a video on Twitter that contained the track WAP by Cardi B. The post prompted investigations and almost led to her expulsion from the university. According to USA Today, Kimberly Diei's posts were claimed to be "too crude," "vulgar," or "sexual," or more.

As a result, Kimberly Diei sued the university claiming that "her public university (was) violating her constitutional rights by policing personal, off-campus expression on social media."

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressions (FIRE) recently announced a settlement between the university and Diei. Her attorney, Greg H. Greubel recently said in a statement that the university has learned its lesson.

"UT’s pharmacy school learned an important lesson today. There is nothing unprofessional about students expressing love of hip-hop and their sexuality on social media."

"Kim has proven something FIRE has said for 25 years: The First Amendment robustly protects students’ rights to have a voice outside of school, even if college administrators don’t like what they have to say," Greubel continued.

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Kimberly Diei speaks up after winning a lawsuit against the University of Tennessee

After winning the lawsuit, during an interview with USA Today, Kimberly spoke up about privacy.

"From the very beginning, I wanted to let people know that you're entitled to a personal life, even if you're a working professional."

"I don't think it's right, especially for a public institution, to police what you're doing outside of the classroom (and) outside of the institution as long as you're acting within the confines of the law," she added.

Kimberly Diei also took to her Instagram handle to share that she had several people hating on her throughout the lawsuit. She further mentioned,

"Though you are still unknown to me at this time because you chose to file anonymous reports... Throwing stones and hiding your hand... I hope my continued success in the future eats you up inside and you think about me every single time you log on."

Diei, in her statement, also mentioned how much time she spent working on the lawsuit. She added she is "relieved."