|
|||||||||
Posted on 05/16/2002 4:50:43 AM PDT by 2Trievers
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A St. Louis jewelry salesman who sold Penthouse Magazine a video of a topless sunbather misidentified as Anna Kournikova (news - web sites) testified on Tuesday he mistook the woman for the tennis star because of the diameter of her nipples.
|
|
|||||||||||
Last week Penthouse, which is owned by financially troubled General Media Communications, acknowledged its mistake and issued a public apology. However both women are pursuing cases against the magazine, whose circulation has dropped to about 650,000 a month from almost 5 million.
Auditors for General Media said in the company's annual report that it may be taken over by its trustee, Bank of New York, if it cannot make its debt payments.
Tuesday's hearing stemmed from Soltesz-Benetton's lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court. Last week the judge in the case stopped Penthouse from posting the photos on the Internet and he must now rule on whether Penthouse should have its distributor recall the June issue.
The sale date of the issue, whose cover carried the headline "Exclusive Anna Kournikova Caught Close Up on Nude Beach," was April 30 and it is unclear how many issues are already in the hands of readers or on sale at retailers.
Plaintiff's lawyer Judd Burstein said that although Kournikova began questioning the validity of the photographs as early as April 24 and denied they were of her on April 26 Penthouse did nothing to stop distribution. He alleged this was done to boost sales and avoid a financial disaster.
Penthouse founder Bob Guccione acknowledged on the stand that while the magazine can try to get remaining issues back from wholesalers, it has no access to retailers.
Although a recall at this point may have little financial impact on Penthouse, the magazine could be hit with monetary damages from the Soltesz-Benetton case in New York or Kournikova's lawsuit in California.
Soltesz-Benetton, 28, alleged in her lawsuit that the video was taken while she was sunbathing topless in Miami about seven years ago. She alleged the unauthorized publication of the photos violated her privacy and that the photos were used for advertising purposes without her consent.
The plaintiff contended the article accompanying the photos was not a real news story but an advertisement aimed at selling the video from which the pictures were taken.
The suit, which seeks more than $10 million in damages, argued that the magazine rushed to run the pictures without confirming they were actually of Kournikova.
Penthouse argued it tried to verify the pictures and that they were used to illustrate a legitimate news article.
Guccione testified that he spent five or six days comparing the video to Internet photos of Kournikova. Although Burstein seemed incredulous his client could be mistaken for Kournikova, Guccione maintained there were similarities in their faces, rib cages and how they extended their pinkies.
The article's author Annette Witheridge testified she had been asked by Penthouse to write an article to accompany the photos. She said she had felt the pictures were more important than the words and that she had been told by Penthouse not to contact Kournikova.
She said Kournikova's quotes in the article -- including one in which the tennis diva reportedly praised her own breasts -- all came from the Internet or published sources and that she had not checked to confirm the accuracy of the quotes.
Ramaesiri, who is not a professional photographer, testified that he had videotaped some topless sunbathers several years ago. When he was reviewing the tape earlier this year, he saw a woman he thought was Kournikova and contacted Penthouse. "I couldn't believe it, it was a match," he testified.
Burstein asked Ramaesiri what had led him to the conclusion the woman was Kournikova. The salesman replied there were several reasons including that the sunbather looked Russian, appeared to be seeking privacy and because of the size of her nipples.
He said that while he had never seen Kournikova at a tournament, he had seen a photo of her on the Internet in which her tennis dress was soaked with sweat, revealing the shape of her nipples. "They were pretty evident ... the diameter matched what we had on film," he said.
Ramaesiri said Penthouse flew him to New York where he met with Guccione. He said Penthouse asked him if the video was time stamped. When he said it was not, Ramaesiri said the magazine did not ask for further proof as to when the video was shot. He said his payment included Super Bowl tickets.
The salesman, wiping tears from his eyes, called himself an "idiot" and apologized to the women and Guccione in court.
"It was unfathomable that it wasn't Anna Kournikova," he said. "Until I saw Ms. Benetton I though it was Ms. Kournikova. I'm probably the last to know. I'm very sorry I made a mistake."
Now does the chick above look like Anna? 
Arrrrrrrgh!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
