So by now many of us are aware of the frivolous law suit trendy shop Kitson filed against Us Weekly Magazine. Kitson is generally a hot spot for celebrity patrons in Los Angeles on famous Robertson street. Until recently it was no surprise to find Kitson in Us Weekly. It actually became a part of my vocabulary. "Oh yeah, and I love Kitson...did you see the new shirts Kitson got in...OMG that is so Kitson." And then I realized, wait, I don't even live in LA. I had come to know the store through not only Us Weekly, but via other major celebrity gossip outlets. Unfortunatly, there has been some bad love between the two companies. Allegedlly, after having a party at Kitson, in which Us Weekly failed to follow through with payment, Kitson claims they were then cut out of the magazine from captions, pictures and articles. They say images were cropped and logos were photoshopped out. The owner of Kitson, says this lack of "publicity" has resulted in a loss of thousands of dollars.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
If this suit were to pass and Kitson wins, there would be so many more law suits directed at major media outlets. It would essentially mean that just because an outlet featured or discussed a product or aspect of a business that resulted in an increase of profit, that then, if the coverage is not continued and profit is then lost, a law suit is relevant. That could essentially create a problem for me as a publicist. Truth be told, this could not happen. There is simply no way Us Weekly could be held libel. Kitson is simply lucky to have been in the magazine in the first place. However, a papparazzo (is that right? K-Fed??) was taped on the Today Show on Wednesday as saying stores will call and notify photographers when a celeb is in the store so they can take the pictures that are then sold to magazines, they work together. In essence that could be seen as unethical. The bottom line is, whether or not this sudden disappearance from the pages of Us Weekly was the result of accounting issues, Us has the responsibility to edit as they see fit. One more thing I'd liek to add--when I went to the Litson home page, I found a huge plug and link to the tops in which Fashion Editor, Suzanne Marchese designed for Kitson. Suzanne Marchese is an editor at Us Weekly....hmmm...must make for an awkward partnership.
Posted by Venessa Correa on September 14, 2006 3:06 PM
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