Emmy award winner Katherine Heigl entered into a lawsuit this week against New York based pharmacy Duane Reade over tweeting unauthorized photos of the actress in an advertisement scheme.
Reuters reports that a paparazzi photo of Heigl exiting one of their locations was tweeted on March 18 and then added to Facebook. Under the photo was the caption, "Love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can't resist shopping #NYC's favorite drugstore." As a result, The Life as We Know It star filed the suit for $6 million in damages.
New York Daily News notes that the proceeds will be donated to the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, her own foundation named after her late brother. Established in 2008, it serves the needs of animal welfare. The lawsuit states the 35 year old actress “continues to be in high demand” with her $1 billion worldwide revenue, and that the legal battle is merely a fight for justice against this violation of rights.
It reads, “Use of plaintiff’s image under these circumstances improperly exploited plaintiff’s name and likeness, as a celebrity, for defendant’s commercial advertising and purposes of trade, without authorization.”
Duane Reade has refused to comment.
Image via Twitter from Duane Reade