Satirical ‘Soup’ skit dwarves sue

A married Collingswood, N.J., couple, both achondroplastic dwarves, recently filed a defamation suit against Comcast, E! Entertainment Television and the host of the “The Soup” for misrepresenting them in a skit on the satirical program.

In 2006, Cara and Gibson Reynolds were photographed by the Associated Press for a story about the controversies surrounding genetic screening.

The photo caption stated their “newborn died from a genetic condition linked to dwarfism.” Three years later, a doctored version of the photograph was used, without AP permission, in a “Soup” skit about a fake reality show called “Fertile Little Tattooed Pageant Parents Who Enjoy Baking.”

“The piece depicted a woman purported to be Cara Reynolds in labor, in the process of giving birth in a bathroom,” the suit filed March 24 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court states.

The Reynolds’ were in the process of adopting a child from China, also an achondroplastic dwarf, and were concerned the “false and misleading information … would jeopardize the adoption process.”

The Reynolds also suffered “anxiety, depression, insomnia … and feelings of shame and degradation.” They are suing for at least $50,000 on each count of defamation, misappropriation of likeness, false light, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and unjust enrichment.

Comcast referred all questions yesterday to E! Entertainment Television; a vice president of corporate communications declined to answer questions about pending litigation.