Fox 29’s Karen Hepp, who co-hosts Good Day Philadelphia, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against social media giants Facebook and Reddit for allegedly using her image in ads for dating apps and erectile dysfunction treatment.
The suit, filed Wednesday in federal court, also alleges that the photo was published on the sites Giphy and Imgur without her permission.
Hepp stated that use of her image without consent violates Pennsylvania’s publicity statutes, Inqurier.com reported. She reportedly became aware that the image was being used two years ago, when colleagues at Fox 29 brought it to her attention.
It was reported that Hepp is unsure where the image was taken, but it is likely from a convenience store in New York City.
According to Philadelphia Magazine, her image appeared on a Facebook ad for a dating site that told readers to check out the link and “meet and chat with single women.”
With Imgur, the same image was shared and put into a section of the site with the label, “MILF.” The image has over 11,000 views. From there the image made its way onto Reddit, where it was categorized in a sexually-themed section of the site.
The image didn’t stop there; apparently, someone turned the image into a GIF, which was found on Giphy’s website. The GIF was edited to show a man performing a lewd act behind Hepp.
Hepp’s suit is also asking for the images/gifs to be removed from those websites.
