SHE'LL SUE: Catherine Zeta-Jones, denies endorsement of Atkins diet (My title)

The Smoking Gum, via Drudge Report ^ | Nov. 12 2003 | The Smoking gun

[carlo3b]

SHE'LL SUE: Catherine Zeta-Jones, denies endorsement of Atkins diet (My title)

NOVEMBER 10--Fresh from a $24,000 victory over the British tab that published her wedding photos, Catherine Zeta-Jones is fixing for her next legal fight--this time, if you can believe it, over published reports that the Academy Award winner shed pounds via the Atkins diet.

In a warning letter sent last week to media outlets (see below), lawyers for Zeta-Jones assert that "her likeness and persona have been improperly linked" to the popular diet in press accounts, adding that the weight loss program "has been derided by nutritionists and other health care officials for decades." By incorrectly reporting that Zeta-Jones "uses and/or endorses the Atkins diet," the letter states, publications are "falsely representing to the average reader, including many young women who look up to my client and admire her beautiful appearance, that Ms. Zeta-Jones would recommend this diet to any person looking to lose weight."

Claiming that an association with Atkins could hurt Zeta-Jones's ability to land endorsement deals for "health-related products, attorney John H. Lavely noted, "In essence, my client is being made to look as if she's more concerned about her outward appearance than she is with serious health concerns." While publications like the New York Post and London's Sunday Telegraph have claimed Zeta-Jones to be an Atkins devotee, an October 20 People magazine story reported that, "a source close to the famously curvy star" knocked down the diet stories, noting that the actress "eats what she wants" and exercises regularly. Richard Rothstein, spokesman for the Atkins Nutritional Institution, told TSG that the company has not been contacted by Zeta-Jones's lawyers. "It's never been our policy to seek celebrity endorsements," Rothstein said. "Where tabloids get their info is a complete mystery to us."

[carlo3b]

If it didn't work, she wouldn't want money for saying it did, would she?.. I report, you decide..heheheeh

[Leroy S. Mort]

Must I do ALL the work around here?

[SeaDragon]

SeaDragon is trying not to gag.

Do we really care what a celebrity has to say? My god, they have their own cooks and trainers and we are suppose to think that what they say about diets is real?

[Dog Gone]

Celebrities, or anyone else, have every right to stop someone from linking them to an advertising campaign that makes somebody else money. That's not only fair, but is derived from many constitutional principles.

Can you think of any causes or commercial properties you wouldn't want to be linked to without your permission?

[gridlock]

Must I do ALL the work around here?

Is that better?

[willyboyishere]

Just WHO is that?

[gridlock]

That's Maureen Dowd. I figured that since CZ-J had to be posted on all Maureen Dowd threads, it stands to reason that Maureen Dowd must be posted on all CZ-J threads.

But if that doesn't work for you...

Better?

[willyboyishere]

Thanks---I figured it was some kind of absurdist non-sequitir, and never knew about the CZ-J/Dowd FR "connection". I wonder if CZJ actually was on Atkins, though, since it looked like she or her lawyer never officially denied having used the diet (this was my wife's response, as she's an Atkins devotee.)

[gridlock]

It could be that Jones does Atkins, but I don't blame her for not wanting to have a non-authorized endorsement. Her public persona is her only asset, and you can't use that asset without compensation.

Jones shows up on Dowd threads because she is married to Dowd's former beau, Michael Douglas. The running gag is that the reason Dowd is such an out-of-control harpie is that she is mad with jealosy and she is trying to win her flaming liberal old boyfriend back by being ever the more over-the-top in her attacks on Dubya and crew. Posting of CZ-J pics is just the FReeper's not-so-subtle way of rubbing it in.

[gridlock]

Correction: Five days to Hillary!

[At _War_With_Liberals]

Every pic of Dowd looks as though the face has been doctored.