Angry Anna fans sue Penthouse for $8.99
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
Two Chicago attorneys have filed a class action lawsuit against Penthouse magazine, saying their two clients shelled out $8.99 each for a copy of the magazine to see tennis star Anna Kournikova naked.
They were distressed to find out the naked woman was not Kournikova and they each want their money back.
Why file a lawsuit to recover $8.99?
Critics of the burgeoning class-action law practice say the suits offer chump change for plaintiffs but million-dollar bounties for their lawyers.
The two Chicago attorneys who filed the suit, Aron D. Robinson and Boris Parad, did not return telephone calls Tuesday.
Their clients, Vadim Levin and Alex Sheyngis, are of Russian descent and bought copies of the magazine hoping to see more of their fellow countrywoman, the lawsuit states.
As early as April 26, Kournikova had warned Penthouse that the photos taken by a jewelry salesman of a naked woman on a Florida beach were not her.
But the magazine went ahead with a campaign hyping the issue and printing 1.2 million copies of the magazine, double the usual run, the lawsuit states.
"The sales and circulation of Penthouse magazine have been diminishing," the suit states. "At its peak, circulation was approximately 5 million a month. More recently, circulation has declined to about 650,000 per month."
Penthouse went ahead with distributing the magazines until Kournikova and the woman actually photographed, Judith Soltesz-Benetton, daughter-in-law of fashion designer Luciano Benetton, both sued. Penthouse reportedly settled out of court with both women, issued apologies and destroyed what few copies of the magazine had not been sold.
The suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court seeks damages for the deceived customers and, of course, attorneys' fees.
---> See the pics