“Kristen” from the Spitzer affair wants $10 million, saying the notorious video series photographed her when she was 17, not the requisite 18 — it seems likely that she had a hand in this deception herself — and now owes her $10 million for injury to her “business, reputation and good will”. (Curt Anderson, “Spitzer call girl sues ‘Girls Gone Wild’ for $10 million”, AP/Philly.com, Apr. 28; WSJ law blog, Apr. 29).
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With all due respect to hookers, for whom I hold a great affection, how do your hurt a prostitute’s reputation other than saying she’s not good at what she does? I haven’t seen the videos in question, but do they imply that she’s a bad lay?
Last time I looked into this (for law school, see Benjamin J. Cooper, Naked Before the Law: Reality Porn and the Capacity to Contract, 11 Cardozo Women’s L.J. 353 (2005)), Ms. Dupre has a 50/50 chance to prevail in Florida’s federal courts.
The closest analagous case is an N.D. Fla. Girls Gone Wild case involving a 23-year-old cheerleader and calendar model; she managed to recover from Joe Francis.
I haven’t looked into Florida law recently, but I think only New Jersey (and maybe New Hampshire) allow the affirmative defense of deception when young people lie about their age to obtain contracts. So that angle really doesn’t fit into it. A better defense is that Ms. Dupre failed to repudiate the contract in a reasonable amount of time after she reached majority; I believe Florida contracts with minors are merely voidable, not void.
What’s a girl to do when her 15 minutes of fame are up? C’mon, folks, this is America — sue, sue, sue!!!!!