Socialite Paris Hilton Sued for $35M for Wearing the Wrong Hair
Not hot. Paris Hilton's latest legal trouble is giving new meaning to a bad hair day. The extension-loving celebrity is apparently not picky when it comes to her hair pieces -- a lack of allegiance that is resulting in a $35 million breach of contract and fraud claim from HairTech International Inc.
According to US Weekly, 29 year-old socialite Paris Hilton was under a $3.5 million contract with the Beverly Hills-based hair extension company to promote their line of hair extensions. In addition to wearing competitors' brands, the complaint also alleges that Hilton's party-girl lifestyle served to tarnish the brand's image, and was behavior contrary to the terms of their agreement. Hilton also missed an important 2007 launch party for the company, which they claim caused them to lose $6.6 million. Her absence was the result of her 23-day prison sentence, stemming from drunk driving and probation violations. Whether Hilton was wearing HairTech extensions in jail is unknown.
In seeking almost 10 times more than her contract was for, HairTech is looking to not only recover breach of contract damages, but also for lost potential revenue had their spokeswoman not "repeatedly engaged in various improper activities in public that were contrary to the agreed marketing campaign," according to the Telegraph. The appropriate remedy for a breach of contract claim depends on the nature of the original contract, but usually places the non-breaching party in the position he would have been in had the contract not been breached. In this case, it is a little more complicated since Hilton not only failed to perform certain aspects of her contract, but essentially "worked" for her company's competition in wearing the wrong hair.
Miss Hilton's hairy legal quandary is not the first endorsement issue she has dealt with in recent times. She was also sued in 2008 by producers of the movie Pledge This! for failing to fulfill her promotional responsibilities.
Related Resources:
- "Breach of Contract" and Lawsuits (FindLaw)
- Nick Cage Faces Breach of Contract Lawsuit (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
- The Fame and Misfortune Of Celebrity: Why Paris Hilton Does Not Belong Behind Bars (FindLaw's Writ)
