Disney Channel Star Alleges Adult Ad Used Her Pic
A lawyer for Disney Channel actress/singer Brenda Song told a judge Monday that process servers have so far been unable to serve a lawsuit on a woman who allegedly used the 20-year-old entertainer's photo in an adult-oriented ad in the L.A. Weekly.
Disney Channel actress/singer Brenda Song is seeking damages of at least $100,000 for the alleged misappropriation of her photo and likeness in an adult-oriented ad in the L.A. Weekly. (File)
Song, who co-stars in "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," originally filed her complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court. Her lawyers filed a revised complaint on May 30, removing Vibe Media Inc. and its owner, Ali Askari, as the original defendants and adding the name of a woman named Vanessa Sena.
But so far, process servers have been unable to serve the revised complaint on Sena, so Song's lawyers may now have to resort to the alternative method of putting a notice in a newspaper, according to one of Song's lawyers, Nancy Lee.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey -- taking into consideration the problems in serving the complaint, as well as deficiencies he found in the amended version -- rescheduled a case management conference until Oct. 27.
The adult-oriented ad that brought about the suit was published in April. It allegedly included a headshot of Song with the name Layla imposed on it, along with a telephone number and the phrase, "Hawaiin beauty. Come get lei'd."
Song's lawyer called the number and the woman who answered asked if he wanted to see her that night, the suit states.
Another Song lawyer, Lawrence Steinberg, said in June that he believes it was Sena and not Vibe Media, operator of the escort Web site Cityvibe.com, who took a photo from the Internet and used it as part of the ad.
The amended complaint states Sena lives in San Bernardino County, but provides no other details about her background, and Steinberg said he does not yet know much about her.
When she filed her original suit April 25, Song said in a statement:
"As a role model to millions of young people, I feel I have to take a stand against this company in regards to its exploitation of my image. In filing this lawsuit, I hope to prevent this company from doing this again to anyone else."
Song, who alleges libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress and commercial misappropriation of photo and likeness, is seeking damages of at least $100,000.
Credited source: Los Angeles News, CBS2.com