Apology not accepted

Kournikova files suit against Penthouse after photo mishap

Penthouse said it had examined the purported images of Anna Kournikova in "painstaking detail." AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- Penthouse magazine apologized Tuesday for misidentifying topless pictures of the daughter-in-law of fashion designer Luciano Benetton as those of tennis player Anna Kournikova.

"We deeply regret this unintentional error and offer our heartfelt apologies to both women," the magazine said in a statement.

Later Tuesday, a spokesman for the management firm that represents Kournikova said she filed a suit in federal court in Los Angeles against General Media Communications Inc., owner and operator of Penthouse. No amount of damages was given.

"The complaint is for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, misappropriation of identity and various other violations of Miss Kournikova's rights under federal and state law," said David Schwab of California-based Octagon, which represents the 20-year-old tennis player.

Penthouse's statement was released a day after Judith Soltesz-Benetton sued Penthouse, seeking a minimum of $10 million in damages. Her attorney, Judd Burstein, claimed the magazine knew about the mistake weeks ago, but published the photos anyway.

The apology "is a month late and $10 million short," Burstein said.

In response to Soltesz-Bennetton's suit, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ordered the magazine to temporarily stop distributing the June issue to newsstands and blocked it from putting pictures on a Web site.

Chin ruled Soltesz-Benetton, 28, would suffer irreparably if Penthouse sent the pictures beyond its current distribution of 1.2 million homes and newsstands.

Soltesz-Benetton claims she was shocked to learn that a photographer had taken a dozen topless photographs without her knowledge when she was in Florida seven years ago. Kournikova had denied through an agent that the photographs were of her.

In the statement, Penthouse said it had examined the purported images Kournikova in 'painstaking detail' and received assurances from the photographer before deciding they were genuine.

"We were wrong," the magazine said. "In over 30 years of publishing this magazine, we have never made an error of anything approaching this magnitude."

 

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