Dwarf couple sue over jokes made on E! TV's "The Soup"

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By JASON NARK - Philadelphia Daily News


Cara and Gibson Reynolds are not "fertile little tattooed pageant parents who enjoy baking."

They're a married, professional couple from Collingswood, Camden County, both born as achondroplastic dwarfs, who struggled to conceive a child.

In 2006, a year after the couple's first daughter died, they agreed to an interview with the Associated Press to discuss issues surrounding couples who have genetic conditions and are trying to conceive. A photographer took their picture, holding hands on their front porch.

Fast forward three years, and that same picture was being used by E! Entertainment Television's popular show "The Soup" to spoof the onslaught of reality TV programs that had popped up about big families, dwarfs, cake and tattoos.

"The Soup" came up with its own show, "Fertile Little Tattooed Pageant Parents Who Enjoy Baking," and used the photo with images of tattooed babies in sashes and lingerie superimposed all around the Reynoldses.

Now the couple has filed a defamation lawsuit in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against Comcast, E! and the host of "The Soup," Joel McHale, claiming that their doctored image has wreaked havoc on their emotions.

Neither the Reynoldses nor their attorney returned phone calls for comment yesterday, and a spokeswoman for NBC Universal, a parent company of E!, declined to comment.

A Comcast representative did not return a request for comment.

[Hal-9000]

hell yeah they have a case....to use a photo of them and then tag it onto a completely different television show for promotional purposes? and then altering parts of the photo??

I hope they win big for this (no pun intended)

[Goofy]

I wonder what people did in the times before lawyers and lawsuits :-k

[Hal-9000]

you don't think these folks have a case Goof?

If someone used my likeness to turn a buck (and make fun of me in the process) heads would roll :x

[Goofy]

Oh, i know they have a case....... and they should win it............ i just get pissed off with the lawsuit culture we have these days, it makes my job more difficult for a start - health and safety shit is all brought about by the lawsuit culture........ where theres blame there's a claim etc

[Hal-9000]

yeah I understand..up here it's not so bad, I guess down in the States they have a lot of that going on.I hear about drivers who don't carry insurance and if/when something happens the lawsuits start flying

[AntZ]

http://minimages.com/images/61583275578763026046.jpg


http://minimages.com/images/42570588565430171006.png

[Hal-9000]

^^^ Jeebus Cripes and they had just lost a kid when the actual picture was taken......no class

[Teh One Who Knocks]

As despicable as this sounds, in fairness, E! may have thought the photo was in the public domain and they more than likely had no idea about the story behind the photo. Anyone who has used Google image search knows the shear number of photos that search engine harvests.

But E! at the very least needs to apologize and come to some kind of settlement with the family. Ignorance of something is no excuse...

[Hal-9000]

As despicable as this sounds, in fairness, E! may have thought the photo was in the public domain and they more than likely had no idea about the story behind the photo. Anyone who has used Google image search knows the shear number of photos that search engine harvests.

But E! at the very least needs to apologize and come to some kind of settlement with the family. Ignorance of something is no excuse...

I think the same...the new show is using that image for promotion and possible gain.If they didn't get permission to use the likenesses in a commercial venture, those little folk should take em to the bank

[FBD]

I dont know that this particular suit as stated should have grounds - this isnt for them "using their likeness" this is about "their mental duress" - FIVE YEARS LATER.

WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

YOU "WREAKED HAVOC ON MY EMOTIONS"

STFU, GTFO.

"You used my likeness w/o my permission, give me a cut" = OK.


This was not defamation, E did not specifically name these two or single them out other than having found their pic on google.

Case dismissed.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

poor little guys :lol:

[Hal-9000]

I dont know that this particular suit as stated should have grounds - this isnt for them "using their likeness" this is about "their mental duress" - FIVE YEARS LATER.

WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

YOU "WREAKED HAVOC ON MY EMOTIONS"

STFU, GTFO.

"You used my likeness w/o my permission, give me a cut" = OK.


This was not defamation, E did not specifically name these two or single them out other than having found their pic on google.

Case dismissed.

all you giants are cold hearted bastards

[PorkChopSandwiches]

If god didn't want people making fun of midgets, he wouldn't have made them so funny to look at.

[Hal-9000]

If god didn't want people making fun of midgets, he wouldn't have made them so funny to look at.

:shock: *calls the Little People Coalition For Equal Treatment*

they don't look funny....they look HOT!







*sneaks in a short wank*

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Bwhahahahaha

[FBD]

all you giants are cold hearted bastards

:mrgreen: My response would be identical for damn near anyone whining about their feelings having been hurt and subsequently suing! I dont care if they're white, black, green, yello, short, tall, or deformed! If you're being harassed that's one thing, but this is preposterous.

[Hal-9000]

:mrgreen: My response would be identical for damn near anyone whining about their feelings having been hurt and subsequently suing! I dont care if they're white, black, green, yello, short, tall, or deformed! If you're being harassed that's one thing, but this is preposterous.

So when did this hatred of midgets start with you FBD?

When you were small??



:lol: :dance:

[Pony]

If it was a serious show then fine, sue. But The Soup is clearly comedy. People sue all the time for similar but they never win.

Everyone jump on the bandwagon and lets sue...



...Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, The Onion, MadTV, most sitcoms, political cartoons.. etc, etc.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

*sues Pony* 8-[

[PorkChopSandwiches]

So when did this hatred of midgets start with you FBD?

When you were small??



:lol: :dance:

Thats the long and short of it

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Dwarf Skit on E!'s 'The Soup' at Center of First Amendment Battle
Comcast is battling a lawsuit from a dwarf couple who claim to be defamed by the E! Entertainment show, "The Soup."
by Eriq Gardner - The Hollywood Reporter

http://i.imgur.com/X05t6.jpg

A couple years ago, E!'s comedy clip show The Soup featured a short spoof ad for a fictional TLC reality show that was to be named Fertile Little Tattooed Pageant Parents Who Enjoy Baking. The idea was to aggregate the looniest yet perpetually popular reality TV memes together, so The Soup took a photo of achondroplastic dwarves and altered the image to include outlandish elements, including 27 children, many of whom had matching tattoos and were wearing lingerie over their clothing.

Now the show is facing a legal threat from the dwarves who were shown during this segment. The lawsuit in Philadelphia is quickly developing into a test of whether a suggestion that someone deserves a wacky reality TV show should receive First Amendment protection as a parody.

Cara and Gibson Reynolds, a dwarf couple, say their photo was seemingly ripped from an AP article about a pretty serious subject: the ethical boundaries in allowing parents to create "perfect" babies. In the article, the Reynoldses were quoted as saying, "You cannot tell me that I cannot have a child who’s going to look like me.

The couple sued Comcast, E! Entertainment, and Soup host Joel McHale with claims of defamation, misappropriation of likeness, false light invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

On Thursday, Michael Berry, the attorney representing Comcast, was in a Philadelphia court in an attempt to get the lawsuit dismissed.

The skit "may have been crass, may have been juvenile, may have been tasteless ... but it's not actionable under the law," Berry told a judge, according to Courthouse News Service.

Comcast argued that suggesting someone should be on a reality show is not defamatory, and pointed to the Supreme Court's famous decision in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell where the justices unanimously ruled that a cartoon image of Reverend Jerry Falwell in a drunken incestuous rendezvous with his mother was parody, and thus protected by the First Amendment.

"This piece is pure fantasy," said Berry, adding that no actual facts about the Reynolds were broadcast. "Whether you call it parody, comedy or just a bad joke, nobody would take this seriously about the Reynolds."

In response, Herman Weinrich, an attorney for the couple, argued that his clients, unlike Falwell, weren't celebrities, that there was an implied suggestion that the dwarf couple made "their living by exploiting their children," and that the mere fact they they're dwarves "shouldn't make them the object of ridicule, of scorn and contempt."

The case raises plenty of issues: Who exactly is a public figure in the age of reality television? Does giving an interview and agreeing to be photographed turn private people into limited public figures? Forever? And as television continues to go the distance in seeking out the bizarre, what exactly is ripe for parody? Heck, what is parody anyway?

[Acid Trip]

The United States has 50% of the world's lawyers. That's 1 lawyer for every 265 Americans.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

90% of all stats online are made up on the spot

[Hal-9000]

90% of all stats online are made up on the spot

when Harp threw that post down in a serious thread I had to literally back away from the pc I was laughing so hard :lol:

[Muddy]

Well at least 90% of MY stats... :lol:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:lol:

[Hal-9000]

I don't think there's anything wrong with making an estimate about something in your life...

eg I made a racial joke the other day at work and only 60% of people laughed (6 out of 10 coworkers)

I don't think it's right to estimate a breast cancer rate in North American women however...other people are already on it..

[deebakes]

:worthless:

[SmoothBob]

'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'

William Shakespeare wrote in 1591, guy was onto somethin..

[DemonGeminiX]

I guess this is a bad time to mention midget bowling...

[Joebob034]

90% of all stats online are made up on the spot

PCS masturbates 85% of the day

[Goofy]

PCS masturbates 85% of the day

That sounds 90% true :thumbsup:

[redred]

they'd love a vist from the english rugby team then