A stunning Manhattan coed is suing The New School for $ 10.4 million saying the alt-university made her the “face” of its ad campaign without even asking— and worst of all, when she was not wearing makeup!
Singer, model and actress Christine James Walker claims the makeup-free shot degraded the value of her brand, and cost her modeling gigs.
Walker explains that she was sitting in her Italian class in November 2011 when a university photographer came in to shoot the students, according to her Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
“To avoid being photographed, Ms. Walker intentionally looked down at her notes and papers while the photographer was photographing her Italian class,” the suit says.
Parsons Fashion Education CenterPhoto: Wikipedia
After the shoot, no one contacted her for permission to use her image, so the 5-foot-8 brunette was shocked when The New School launched a marketing blitz in May 2013 with a photo of Walker reading papers in a classroom.
The Brooklyn 20-something is the only person shown in the ad, which that reads “You want your bachelor’s degree. You’re busy. We get it.”
It was posted on The New School’s website, in subway stations, pamphlets, a graduation billboard and in publications including Metro newspaper, the suit says.
“Ms. Walker’s image and reputation are of great personal and pecuniary value to her and Ms. Walker is very careful to control and protect the value of her brand and her image,” she huffs in the filing.
She was never compensated by the school, the suit claims, and is now demanding $ 125,000 for the use of her image, $ 250,000 for emotional distress — and $ 10 million for punitive damages.
The school largely ignored a cease-and-desist letter Walker’s attorney sent last July, the suit says. The college only removed the photo from its website but did nothing about taking down ads in other places.
The Reading, Penn. native graduated from The New School with a bachelor’s degree in the fine arts. Walker’s web site boasts that she has appeared in off Broadway shows, regional theater and sings soprano in cabarets.
She describes herself as Caucasian, Hispanic and Native American.
A rep for the school did not immediately return a message for comment.
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