Models are suing a Philly nightclub for using their photos without permission to promote the club
The models — including Eva Pepaj, Janet Guzman, and Jessa Hinton — said in the federal lawsuit that the suggestion they work at Trilogy Nightclub & Hookah Lounge "imputes unchastity" on them.
Images for supermodels with millions of social media followers are plastered on invites to events at Trilogy Nightclub & Hookah Lounge, but don’t expect models to make an appearance.
Ten models filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Spring Garden nightclub of using their images in social media posts from 2015 and through this winter to promote the establishment without their approval or payment.
Ahead of Trilogy’s 2019 Cinco de Mayo party, billed in a Facebook post as “the hottest” in the tristate area, the club and hookah bar used in social media posts images of Eva Pepaj, a model who has appeared in films and a Diet Coke commercial, according to the complaint, and has 2.6 million Instagram followers.
And ahead of Halloween 2017, the suit says, the club used photos of former Playboy playmate Jessa Hinton — one in which she is wearing a suggestive cat costume and another in a Captain America bodysuit — to promote Trilogy’s Halloween party.
The most recent example in the complaint is from February, and depicts an image of “social media star” with 1.9 million Instagram followers and Fashion Nova clothing brand promoter Janet Guzman, to hype an Afro Beats night. The lawsuit includes examples of the club’s use of Guzman’s image dating to 2018.
None of the 10 models depicted in the posts were ever hired to promote the club, according to the lawsuit.
“Unauthorized use of Plaintiffs’ Images deprives them of income they are owed relating to the commercialization of their Images,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit says that by using the photos of the models, Trilogy harmed their careers and reputations because of the “negative connotation” the comes with seeming as if they work at or promote the club.
“As so far said publication falsely portrays each of the Plaintiffs as an entertainer, it imputes unchastity to her,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, charges Trilogy with false association, false advertising, violation of the models’ right to privacy, and defamation, among other counts. It says the amount of damages should be determined at trial.
The nightclub did not respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time a Philadelphia nightclub has been sued for using images of models without permission. Actress and model Carmen Electra was among a group of models that filed multiple lawsuits against Philadelphia-area strip clubs in recent years, claiming they improperly used her images. Some of those lawsuits are ongoing, while others were resolved before trial.