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Kim Kardashian Is Suing Old Navy For Using A Lookalike In Their Ads

by Justin Fenner | 12:53 pm, July 20th, 2011

Well, it’s certainly one way to pay for a wedding. Kim Kardashian believes an Old Navy commercial featuring a model who looks a lot like her has damaged her image — and her pocketbook. So she’s suing the pants off the retailer for using her cachet to promote its brand.

The lawsuit, which the Kardashian legal team will probably approach from an appropriation of name or likeness angle, alleges that Old Navy found someone who looks almost exactly like Kardashian to fool the public into thinking that she was working with them — and to a small degree, it seems to have worked. In the months since the commercial debuted, a variety of news sources have commented that the model in the ads looks, well, just like Kardashian. (Notably, her backup dancers look just like the guys from The Black Eyed Peas.)

The “Super C-U-T-E” ad itself is a dayglo version of Kardashian’s glamorous reality TV existence — the model croons that “This is real life/ I’m not posing for a magazine,” and then goes on about her day, getting a root canal and being followed around by paparazzi. Old Navy’s lawyers could respond to the suit by saying, “Hey, we were just having a little fun with a ubiquitous topical reference.” But because the brand is using a semblance of Kardashian’s image to sell things, we don’t think it’ll qualify for the parody/satire defense that protects, say, the blogger behind WTForever21 from making fun of Forever21′s oft-heinous clothing.

Also, Old Navy has been pretty upfront about how much its model, Melissa Molinaro, looks like Kardashian. TMZ notes that the company has even tweeted at her to highlight the comparison.

And yes, it is sort of like poking a sleeping bear with a sharp stick. Because Kardashian estimates the commercial has done $15 million to $20 million worth of damage to her image-based business, and we’re guessing she’ll sue the company for a whole lot more than that. Take a look at the ad below, and let us know if you think she’s got a case.

[TMZ]



  • Emily

    kim kardashian is such a greedy hooker

  • DKK

    What an idiotic lawsuit.  kim Kardashian is famous for being famous. Period. This is not lawsuit material.  This is publicity material, and just another way to keep her name in the headlines.  The judge should laugh his butt off when he dismisses this case.

  • Christa Marzan

    No. So greedy.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=562897032 Lainey Scallan

    I don’t think she looks like Kim K more like Nicole Scherzinger

  • Emily

    plus she has a million times the talent that kim k could ever even hope to have (re: “My Jam”)

  • Al Eurovision

    she should sue their asses off!  and i love the way KIM CONTINUES TO MAKE MONEY FROM DOING NOTHING!  SHE IS A REAL STAR! 

  • Cedarblu

    laughable. just like lindsay and dina trying to sue for the Milkaholic lindsay baby. who do these people think they are? the kardashians are famous for being the ex wife and the children of a lawyer who helped get OJ off, and exploiting themselves on t.v. after selling a perfectly planned, orchestrated, and widely released sex tape of kim and an F list no name rapper that peed on her. and now this trashtastic family is worth over 700 million dollars, because we are watching them, and the media is still commenting and reporting on them. please, help E entertainment and Ryan Seacrest go away. ( and i live in vancouver b.c. where we don’t even get e and seacrest – and the kardashian overload …. i’m inundated with it. )

  • http://bombshellfashion.blogspot.com/ Mcconner

    I wonder if this has anything to do with Kim finding out that the model is dating her ex Reggie Bush? Hmmm….

  • Cedarblu

    @mcconner – really???? omg – that’s hysterical!!!! thanks for sharing that info! so pathetic!

  • MamaCita

    KIM K NEEDS TO GET OVER HERSELF..maybe she needs the money to fix her cellulite covered ass!
    he is jealous of the Old Navy girl because she (old navy girl) is screwing Reggie and she is marrying an Ogre looking white boy with a small member! ;)

  • Laur

    Ok, I liked the show until Khloe got proposed to and showed Kim the ring…the face on poor Kim, and the only thing she did was look at the size of the ring and say, its the minimum size to accept…wow..how sad, really…a lil bit of wealth, and the class of how to use it is fine…but when you don’t really have much fun except the money part, that’s bad…that’s when money controls you,,, not you it..oh, ha ha …no the cute li’l girl, in the Old Navy ad, doesnt look like Kim..maybe she could be mistaken for a cuz or a far, far any imitator…she is not coiffed, dressed, or act like Kim either…almost as bad as when Spike Lee sued for the “Spike Tv” channel…not knowing that the word “spike” exists without him…wow..Omm..Ommm–haha 
    peace..have a good one…us..

  • http://twitter.com/CestDerrode Derrode L. Rowe

    Is she gonna sue every girl who looks like her? She needs to get real. She pretty and all, but she has to be the most highly irreverent person that I know.

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  • Rebelqueens

    I honestly don’t even know what to say about the insanity of this.  Clearly it is for publicity, because, you know, the useless Kardashians don’t get enough of that!  Pretty funny on the Reggie item…meow!
    She is famous for doing absolutely nothing, having no talent, and she is completely useless.
    So, I guess any gals with long, dark hair should hang it up as far as any career in the public eye?  Come on – you think you own how you look?  How DARE anyone have the unmitigated gaul to LOOK like Kim Kardashian!  WHAT was God thinking when this other chick was born!  Thats it!!! SUE GOD!!!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UNDG2SHP5U4AGJTPMGAGT3NVTE Belihornji Smith

    She has wonderful attraction on her face that is one of the best part of her personality.
    http://hcgxtreme.net/

  • Frenchy

    Only their aesthetic surgeon should sue both of them to get his royalties !
     

  • Hannah

    What’s ruining Kim Kardashian’s image is Kim Kardashian.

  • http://profiles.google.com/chet.parker Chet Parker

    Kim’s “look” is – face down on a bed, looking back at the guy with the camera.  Isn’t that the “look” that made her famous?

  • Lea

    First of all you can sooo tell it’s not Kim Kardashian by the looks, even though there are similarities.  Secondly, it’s obviously not Kim because has anyone ever seen Kim dress that conservatively?? And common sense, the way Kim portrays herself and what she wears would anyone actually think that she would do anything to promote Old Navy, where the most expensive thing in the store is probably cheaper than the toilet paper she uses to wiper her a**?? NO!  Plus everything Kim does is always so sexed up (and I’m not even including the sex tape), and this isn’t it’s just cute and appropriate! Personally I already like this girl more than Kim, and would buy something that she promotes over Kim’s line or anything she promotes, anyday! Kim needs to get off her high horse! Maybe old navy sales went up, because this girl actually has some talent, and because their new line of clothes is cute. And what on earth has Kim lost because of this??  BTW the Reggie Bush thing, HILARIOUS!!!  

  • Lea

    Plus Melissa has been in movies, on TV and making music since like 2002! which is 5yrs before the sex tape and Keeping up With the Kardashians!! If there is that much of a likeness in their looks as according to Kim and her Lawyer, than Melissa should sue her for making her look like a dumb talentless slut, and hindering her career because she looks too much like the famed(for some unknown reason) talentless Kim Kardashian, who is not a good rolemodel or anything! If this lawsuit works then Melissa should be able to get a lot for her ruining her image, and a bunch of loss pay, because the whole Kim Kardashian “vibe” doesn’t work in ALOT of movies and shows!

  • coffeenmorphine

    And so anyone who looks like Kim should not be allowed to work in show business, especially if they are more talented than she is at singing and dancing… or anything really. Kim needs to recognize that she is neither actress nor model (or anything talented for that matter), and just continue to work on not leaking sex tapes.

  • dontbehatin

    its not any of our business what kim wants to do so just leave her alone… and she is very talented or she wouldnt be famous in  the first place, she can do anything she wants.

  • Paisleywicker

    i’d love to see you try and explain how she’s talented! and how can you not tell that she’s the one bothering other people? no one asked to push her big face in here for a lawsuit. she’s so egocentric that she’s suing old navy (for heavens sake) because their model supposedly looks like her! it’s not even like they were manipulating her image! you’re delusional.

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