Edited by: TJVNews.com
A Russian supermodel is mad as hell at designer Ralph Lauren’s corporation as well as HBO and has taken to the courts to let them know just how miffed she is. On Friday, it was reported that an attorney representing Ralph Lauren and HBO asked a Manhattan judge to toss out a $20 million lawsuit filed in November by Anastassia Khozissova.
The supermodel has said that both HBO and Ralph Lauren Corporation used images of her without her permission. The attorney has claimed that the images were biographical and matters of public interest.
The New York Post has reported that Khozissova has said that she ceased her modeling contract with Ralph Lauren in 2014, however she asserts that photos of her were featured in HBO documentary “Very Ralph,” in two books about the designer and were hung inside a store in Moscow and another on the Upper West Side. Lauren was not named as a defendant in the case, according to the report.
Khozissova is the ex-girlfriend of South African sprinter and convicted killer Oscar Pistorius.
Arguing on behalf of HBO, attorney Katherine Bolger said on Friday during a video hearing that the documentary on the life of the iconic fashion designer that was aired on HBO was not considered an advertisement for Lauren’s brand of high end clothing but instead it was focused on Lauren’s career in the fashion industry. She concluded that the supermodel does not have a legal right to seek damages in this case.
The Post reported that Bolger argued that the images of Khozissova were used in the background of the film and that the supermodel was not the topic of the documentary. She said in court, “The documentary subject is clearly a matter of public interest. A documentary about fashion is newsworthy and that’s the end of the case.”
Bolger also added that, “Here there is more than one appearance of the plaintiff in the background but altogether they equal 38 seconds of a 1-hour-and-48-minute documentary. The use of her likeness is incidental and rapid,” according to the Post report.
The Post reported that Andrea Calvaruso, the attorney representing Ralph Lauren Corp argued that the photos of Khozissova in the two books about the life of Lauren were “not to promote the sale of Ralph Lauren products, but rather to tell the story of Mr. Lauren’s personal biography.”
In terms of the store in Moscow and the one on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that used Khozissova’s images, the Post reported that Calvaruso said that the photos of the supermodel “were meant to be decorative art. They were pretty pictures of the runway.” The attorney added that the images did not “constitute advertising.”
The attorney representing Khozissova in her lawsuit, Salman Ismat, has argued that the arguments emanating from the legal teams representing both defendants were not relevant, according to the Post report. Ismat said that neither side has began the discovery collection process so that these arguments are coming way too early in a case that has yet to be litigated. The Post reported that Ismat asked the judge to deny their motions to dismiss the lawsuit.
Ismat argued, “They are asking the court to make a number of determinations that are not appropriate at this stage. Whether or not her appearance was decorative or advertising, these are things that I don’t think can be determined at this stage without discovery.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Andrea Masley said that she would issue a written decision at a later date, according to the Post report.
