Emily Ratajkowski Sued For $150,000 Over Instagram Post
By Ryan Naumann on October 23, 2019 at 4:49 AM EDT
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Model Emily Ratajkowski has been hit with a massive lawsuit over a social media post.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, photographer Robert O’Neil has filed a federal suit against Ratajkowski and her company, Emrata Holdings Inc.
O’Neil explains he is a professional paparazzi who took a photo of Ratajkowski on the streets in New York.
In the photo, she is holding a bouquet of flowers that are covering her face. O’Neil says he obtained the copyright of his work. The suit accuses Ratajkowski of taking his photo and posting it on her Instagram story. She captioned the post, “Mood Forever.”
He says she never paid him or asked for permission to post his work. O’Neil claims he lost a substantial amount of money from her posting to her 24 million followers.
“Defendants infringed Plaintiff’s copyright in the Photograph by reproducing and publicly displaying the Photograph on the Website. Defendants are not, and has never been, licensed or otherwise authorized to reproduce, publically display, distribute and/or use the Photograph.”
He is seeking in excess of $150,000 for each infringement plus all profits Ratajkowski made off his work.
“Plaintiff is entitled to statutory damages up to $150,000 per work infringed for Defendants willful infringement of the Photograph”
O’Neal previously sued model Gigi Hadid over similar accusations. He accuses her of using a photograph of her ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik on her Instagram story.
O’Neil is demanding unspecified damages for alleged infringement. He also is seeking for Hadid to have to turn over accounting. He is demanding Hadid, “be required to account for all profits, income, receipts, or other benefits derived by Defendant as a result of its unlawful conduct.” He is seeking in excess of $150,000.
Hadid has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
