Whitney v. Playboy Entertainment Group
Filed 6/1/06 Whitney v. Playboy Entertainment Group CA2/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION TWO
| JENNIFER WHITNEY, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. PLAYBOY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC., Defendant and Appellant. | B182230 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC 296518) |
Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Ricardo A. Torres, Judge. Affirmed.
Glassman, Browning & Saltsman, Inc., Anthony Michael Glassman and Alexander Rufus-Isaacs for Defendant and Appellant.
Law Offices of Cyrus & Cyrus, Cyrus John Nownejad and Donna M. Boris for Plaintiff and Respondent.
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Appellant Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (Playboy), appeals from an order of the trial court denying Playboy's Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16[1] motion to strike respondent Jennifer Whitney's (Whitney) second amended complaint. We affirm.
CONTENTIONS
Playboy contends that: (1) Whitney's claims arise out of Playboy's exercise of its free speech rights on a public issue; (2) Whitney cannot meet her burden of establishing a probability of prevailing on her claims; and (3) Playboy is entitled to its attorney fees and costs under Civil Code section 3344.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Whitney filed a second amended complaint (SAC) for: (1) misappropriation (Civ. Code, § 3344); (2) common law misappropriation; (3) false light; (4) fraud; (5) unjust enrichment; and (6) quantum meruit. The SAC alleged the following. In 2001, Whitney was hired by Playboy to dance and serve drinks at the Midsummer Night's Dream party at the Playboy Mansion, wearing only body paint. She had worked other similar events in the past. Events at the Playboy Mansion were private gatherings, not open to the general public. Playboy strictly forbade photography, filming, or recording inside the Playboy Mansion. No one was allowed to record events for publication or sale to the general public. At previous events where Whitney had been hired to dance, Playboy informed her that she would be videotaped solely so that guests could view the videotapes contemporaneously on television monitors inside the Playboy Mansion. In preparation for the subject party, Whitney and other models were painted in the gym area of the Playboy Mansion. The painting was conducted in private and the gym was closed to party guests. Whitney was openly videotaped while being painted in the gym. She was also given a release form to sign. Whitney did not sign the release and later threw it into a trash can in the gym.
Playboy subsequently produced two videos for sale, entitled â€
