Sofia Vergara Sues Beauty Company Venus Concept — See the Details Here!
"Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara is taking legal action against a beauty company for wrongfully using her image to promote their products.
According to The Wrap, the 43-year-old actress filed a case against Venus Concept in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, wherein she claimed that her name, image, and persona has been used without her permission to promote the Venue Legacy line of products. Venue Concept is a company that provides skin-tightening technology and services through its various brands, which include Venus Skin, Venus Viva, Venus Legacy, Venus Freeze, and Venus Swan.
The lawsuit claims that Venus Concept used one of her Instagram photos, which she posted shortly before the 2014 Emmy Awards, during which she received a skin treatment. Months later, Vergara found that a doctor from Venus Concept "promoted at length Venus Concept’s Venus Legacy non-surgical body contouring and skin-tightening treatment" during an episode of "Extra," all while using the aforementioned photo.
The actress, who was recently wed to "Magic Mike" actor Joe Manganiello, admitted to having tried the Legacy treatment, but did not like it and would never consider endorsing it.
"Vergara tried the Legacy treatment, but ultimately didn’t like it, finding that it was a waste of time and money with little in the way of any results—she would not use it again, and certainly would not endorse it nor agree to appear in an international advertisement campaign to promote it," the case read.
Vergara's camp also claimed that the company "commenced and began to engage in a scheme to usurp, use and exploit Vergara’s celebrity and universal recognition in a worldwide marketing campaign to market and advertise their products and services."
According to ABC News, Venus Concept used Vergara's photo in their official Facebook page, the Lavoro Laser website, and the Twitter page of Beauty Fix Medspa without the actress' permission, which results to a violation of intellectual property laws.
FOX News Latino reports that the Colombian actress is the endorser of several brands, including CoverGirl, Rooms to Go, and Head & Shoulders. She also previously endorsed Diet Pepsi, State Far, and Comcast's Xfinity. According to the lawsuit, Vergara earns upwards of $15 million per endorsement, and claims that Venus Concept has wrongfully used her image for profit.
Meanwhile, Vergara continues to appear in ABC's "Modern Family," which returns to television this February 10. She is also set to star in the upcoming comedy film, "The Brits Are Coming," which stars Uma Thurman and Tim Roth, and is directed by James Oakley, and produced by Cassian Elwes and J. C. Chandor.