Sandra Bullock and Ellen DeGeneres have teamed up to file a lawsuit against fake sites using the pair’s star power to sell health products without permission.
The complaint, filed on Wednesday, says the stars are targeting those who sell products accompanied by quotes that are “fake and fraudulent, and published without plaintiffs’ consent”. Under legal threat are 100 anonymous individuals and entities who can now be uncovered with subpoenas.
Bullock and DeGeneres are targeting those within the affiliate marketing industry who earn money if users click through from online ads to e-commerce sites. The pair used an example of an ad that used a screengrab of Bullock on The Ellen Show accompanied by fake dialogue about an anti-ageing face cream. The same company also reportedly used an ad of DeGeneres saying she does not need makeup because she uses its serum instead – quotes that were also fabricated.
The complaint reads: “These companies change names frequently, merge in and out of entities formed in states that allow for secrecy, operate websites that pop up and disappear overnight, and generally do everything possible to ‘stay one step ahead of the sheriff’.”
The suit lists 40 beauty products that the pair claim have been sold with their names attached without permission.
The affiliate industry will be worth an estimated $6.8bn from next year. Bullock’s and DeGeneres’s lawyers claim this specific part of the industry is “based on a scheme to trick consumers into disclosing their credit card and/or debit card information in order to enroll them in costly programs with undisclosed, or poorly disclosed, recurring charges”.
Lawyers are demanding an injunction and compensatory damages.
In 2014, Bullock successfully sued ToyWatch, a company that was using her name to sell watches.
