Continuing her downward spiral into madness and humiliation, Lindsay has now filed suit against e-Trade
for that Super Bowl add that feature a baby character called Lindsay, who was accused of being a "milkaholic". Lohan claims that she is identified by a single name - like Cher, Oprah or Madonna - and that anyone watching the commercial would immediately think of her. She found this portrayal of "herself" as a milkacholic so painful that she is seeking $100 million in damages.
Every article I've read on this subject correctly states that she doesn't have a chance in hell of winning this thing - but all of them base this on the idea that "Lindsay" is hardly a unique name and that she can't prove they had her in mind. (Someone has produced an early draft of the commercial's script, where the character is called "Deborah", but this is hardly proof that they didn't have Lohan in mind when they later changed the name.)
I don't think this is e-Trade's strongest argument. Lohan isn't claiming that they used her name or likeness without permission to endorse their product, which they clearly didn't. (Baby Lindsay looks nothing like Lohan and in the context of the commercial the only baby who is endorsing e-Trade is the boy who does most of the talking.) She's claiming "mental anguish" because the commercial made fun of her by portraying her as an addict. Well, she has two problems there:
1) She is (or at least has been) an addict - complete with stints in court-ordered recovery programs. The truth is an absolute defense in cases like this, at least in U.S. courts.
2) She is a public figure- and has worked hard to become one. Under
New York Times v. Sullivan, public figures have very few rights under libel law, much less an ability to complain when they've been mocked. If your career involves having every detail in your life splashed across the tabloids, and you've profited from all the publicity, up to a point, you can't cry "foul" when someone sends up some aspect of your very public persona.
I can't believe this hasn't been dismissed with prejudice and court sanctions against whatever lawyer was dumb enough to file this nonsense for her.
Regards,
Joe