Call girl in Eliot Spitzer scandal files $10 million lawsuit
Enlarge imageMIAMI (Reuters) - The prostitute linked to the sex scandal that forced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign last month is suing "Girls Gone Wild" adult video founder Joe Francis for more than $10 million (5.02 million pounds) for the illegal use of her name and image.
In the lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court in Miami, Ashley Alexandra Dupre contends that she was 17 and not old enough to sign a legally binding contract when she appeared partially nude in video footage filmed in 2003 by members of Francis’ Mantra Films production company in Miami Beach.
On a spring break vacation at the time, Dupre was also drunk when told to sign a video "release" form, according to the complaint, which seeks damages in excess of $10 million from Francis and his co-defendants.
"At the time of these events, plaintiff did not understand the magnitude of her actions nor that her image and likeness would be displayed in videos and DVDs produced and distributed by defendants," the lawsuit says.
"The defendants have profited from the filming, production and distribution and sale of the videos and DVDs," it added.
"Defendants created the false impression that plaintiff has endorsed and/or approves of the graphic sexual content, including lesbian acts, contained in the video, which in reality she does not."
.....continued below
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
Dupre was identified in media reports in March as the woman named "Kristen" linked to "Client 9," the frequent patron of an upscale prostitution ring.The New York Times, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, has said Spitzer was the unnamed Client 9 cited in a federal affidavit against four suspected ringleaders of the online prostitution ring. Spitzer resigned on March 12 after the story appeared.
A spokesman for Francis could not be reached for immediate comment on Monday’s lawsuit.
(Reporting by Tom Brown; Editing by Eric Beech)
MIAMI (Reuters) - The prostitute linked to the sex scandal that forced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign last month is suing "Girls Gone Wild" adult video founder Joe Francis for more than $10 million (5.02 million pounds) for the illegal use of her name and image.
In the lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court in Miami, Ashley Alexandra Dupre contends that she was 17 and not old enough to sign a legally binding contract when she appeared partially nude in video footage filmed in 2003 by members of Francis’ Mantra Films production company in Miami Beach.
On a spring break vacation at the time, Dupre was also drunk when told to sign a video "release" form, according to the complaint, which seeks damages in excess of $10 million from Francis and his co-defendants.
"At the time of these events, plaintiff did not understand the magnitude of her actions nor that her image and likeness would be displayed in videos and DVDs produced and distributed by defendants," the lawsuit says.
"The defendants have profited from the filming, production and distribution and sale of the videos and DVDs," it added.
"Defendants created the false impression that plaintiff has endorsed and/or approves of the graphic sexual content, including lesbian acts, contained in the video, which in reality she does not."
Dupre was identified in media reports in March as the woman named "Kristen" linked to "Client 9," the frequent patron of an upscale prostitution ring.
The New York Times, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, has said Spitzer was the unnamed Client 9 cited in a federal affidavit against four suspected ringleaders of the online prostitution ring. Spitzer resigned on March 12 after the story appeared.
A spokesman for Francis could not be reached for immediate comment on Monday’s lawsuit.
(Reporting by Tom Brown; Editing by Eric Beech)
© 2008 Reuters Click for restrictions
Related Links
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
U.S. Elections
Find out all about American's next President and how the states voted.
Weekly quiz
Have you been paying attention? Take our weekly, fun news quiz to test your knowledge of current affairs.
Weather forecasts
Get the 7-day forecast for your region.
WAGS
It's not just footballers who get shown the red card. Take a look at some of the WAGS back on the market.
Odd pics
Look back at the week in picture in our special gallery of the weird and wonderful.
Experian Credit Report
Check who's been checking on you with your FREE Experian credit report.Latest Headlines
- Boy George faces jail for imprisonment
- Coldplay accused of plagiarism
- Graham Norton takes over Eurovision job
- Recession puts economic shine on movie comedies
- Jethro Tull to play first Mumbai concert after attacks
- Rowling says fans prompted new book
- Will Smith rolling out low-profile Oscar bid
- Stones insider pins fracas on cops
- Joseph Fiennes to star in U.S. TV drama
- "Emo Boy" a big-screen drama queen
Page Footer
Access keys
You will need to use different key combinations in order to use access keys depending on your internet browser, find out which on our accessibility page.
- (0) Navigate to Accessibility page.
- (1) Navigate to Home page.
- (2) Navigate to My email.
- (3) Navigate to My Account.
- (4) Navigate to Site Map page.
- (5) Navigate to Contact us page.
- (6) Navigate to Members channel.
- (7) Navigate to Services channel.
- (8) Navigate to News & Info channel.
- (9) Navigate to Entertainment channel.
- ([) Skip down to the Primary navigation block.
- (]) Skip down to the more links within this section block.
- (=) Bypass all navigation and jump to the content.
- (x) Text only version of this page.
