Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries divorce battle

Kim Kardashian threw down the gauntlet with her new “My Divorce Hell” Us Weekly magazine cover story and now Kris Humphries insiders are firing back at a “smear” job.

“Kim Kardashian is seeking sympathy. She’s playing the victim card,” a source close to the Humphries family told Hollywoodlife.com.

”It’s her last chance,” the insider says referring to the interview Kim Kardashian gave to US Weekly in its new April 9 cover story.

Kim Kardashian told the magazine that she is “so ready emotionally for this chapter [her marriage to Kris Humphries] to be over,” and Kim sources accused Kris Humphries of “doing anything he can to get her [Kim’s] attention, she would grant a divorce in a second. But he won’t sign the papers. He won’t let go.”

Us Weekly sources go on to slam Kris Humphries for “doing this to humiliate” and “hurt” Kim Kardashian. The piece gets so vicious that it includes accusations that he’s leaking “nasty items” about Kim Kardashian to the press, he “wants money and he wants fame,” he gave expensive wedding gifts to his family, that his father is writing a tell-all book about the marriage, and even in an exceptionally barbed blow that his sister, Kaela, used Kim to boost her modeling career – “she wanted fame by osmosis!”

It’s a six page diss-a-thon from start to finish, and it certainly indicates that Kim Kardashian is not in the settling-her-divorce mood. She may have thought when she filed divorce papers on October 31, 2011, that the split would be an easy slam dunk with her iron-clad prenup. Kim Kardashian never anticipated that Kris Humphries would feel so upset and used that he would file for an annulment based on fraud, instead. Kris Humphries sources have maintained to Hollywoodlife.com that he believes he was induced into a marriage that was never meant to be “real” and that was used by Kim Kardashian, for financial gain, to boost the ratings of Kourtney & Kim Take New York, in which he co-starred.

It’s “incredibly clear” that it’s Kim Kardashian who’s trying to smear Kris Humphries, a source close to the Humphries family told the website.

The Us Weekly “My Divorce Hell” feature claiming that “Kim Kardashian begs Kris Humphries to set her free” and insisting that Kris is “plotting to get her money and ruin her name,” says one big thing about Kim – she’s furious that the divorce has not been easy and that Kris Humphries has not gone away quietly.

Team Humphries believes Kim Kardashian did the magazine interview at this time because Kris’s lawyer, Lee A. Hutton 111, released a statement on March 19 saying that his legal team wouldn’t be making any more comment on the divorce/annulment case.

“Much effort and energy to mis-direct the public’s perception of what transpired between Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries has taken place over the past several months, some even going so far as to attempt to create settlement ‘demands’ where none have been made,” the statement reads.

“Neither Kris Humphries nor his legal team have spread these rumors nor will they. While we are encouraged to see an apparent willingness by the other side to put big numbers out in an attempt to settle Mr. Humphries’ claims, we respect and will continue to observe the integrity of the legal process. This case will be resolved not in the court of public opinion amidst ridiculous and defamatory allegations and personal attacks directed against Kris Humphries. Rather, this case will be appropriately investigated and litigated professionally and with integrity. General Counsel Lee A. Hutton III of Lommen Abdo, with the assistance of Kris’ new Los Angeles legal team of family law experts Marshall Waller and Sandra Salinas of Feinberg & Waller, have been retained to protect Mr. Humphires’ legal position as well as his reputation throughout these proceedings. One thing is certain: Kris Humphries intends to set the record straight and while settlement discussions are a normal part of every litigated case, there will always be public speculation and conjecture in matters such as this, in fact, these legal proceedings and the parties involved are deserving of professionalism and integrity by all.”

“Kim chose perfect timing after the statement was released saying that his legal team wouldn’t be talking. She felt safe I guess, knowing they wouldn’t respond,” says the insider.

As for Team Humphries feelings about the Us Weekly article attacking both Kris Humphries father, William Humphries, and his sister Kaela: “It’s very false that Kris’s father is trying to sell a tell-all book”. If he were trying to sell it, it would be sold in seconds. Everyone wants to know the “truth about how scummy they are.”

It’s clear that Kim Kardashian may have launched the latest grenade in the Kardashian/Humphries Divorce War – but Kris Humphries is not going to surrender.