A Philadelphia news anchor is suing numerous internet companies for allegedly using a sexualized image of her without her permission.
Fox 29 anchor Karen Hepp filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Reddit, Imgur, Giphy, WCGZ, the porn site S.R.O., and other unnamed individuals on Wednesday seeking damages of $10 million. Hepp is suing the companies for the “usurpation and unlawful use of her image” and the “unlawful dissemination and publication of her image on various commercial website[s].”
Two years ago, some of Hepp’s coworkers told her that an image of her had begun appearing on websites and in erectile dysfunction advertisements. The image was apparently taken by a convenience store camera in New York, according to the lawsuit.
Facebook hosted an ad that used the image for a dating website to “meet and chat with single women.” Imgur, a photo-sharing website, put the image in a category labeled “MILF,” a lewd acronym.
The photo appeared on Reddit, another social media platform, in a section titled OBSF, another lewd acronym. On the GIF website Giphy, a user altered the photo of Hepp to include a man appearing to masturbate behind her.
The “sexualization” of Hepp’s image and the illicit use of it has caused “serious, permanent and irreparable harm” to Hepp, according to the lawsuit.
