1 United States District Court Southern District of New
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Case 1:21-cv-06300 Document 1 Filed 07/24/21 Page 1 of 19 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ------------------------------------------------------------------X GRACE ELIZABETH HARRY CABE, 21-cv-6300 Plaintiff, COMPLAINT -Against- REVLON CONSUMER PRODUCTS CORPORATION, and REVLON, INC. Defendants, ------------------------------------------------------------------X Plaintiff, Grace Elizabeth Harry Cabe, by her attorneys, EDWARD C. GREENBERG, LLC, for her complaint alleges as follows: THE PARTIES 1. Plaintiff GRACE ELIZABETH HARRY CABE is a professional model, known professionally as “Grace Elizabeth” who resides, is domiciled, and works as a professional model, in the State of New York, County of Kings. 2. That defendant REVLON CONSUMER PRODUCTS CORPORATION (hereinafter “RCPC”) is a foreign business corporation, duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, and is authorized to and does regularly does business in the State and County of New York with an address at One New York Plaza, New York, New York 10004 3. That defendant REVLON, INC. (hereinafter “RI”) is a foreign business corporation, duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, and is authorized to and does regularly does business in the State and County of New York with an address at One New York Plaza, New York, New York 10004. JURISDICTION 4. Jurisdiction is conferred upon this Court by 15 U.S.C. §1121(a). 1 Case 1:21-cv-06300 Document 1 Filed 07/24/21 Page 2 of 19 5. Venue is proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1391(b)(1) as defendants are located in and reside in the county and State of New York. 6. Venue is further proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1391(b)(2), in that a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims asserted herein, inclusive of those relevant to claims under the New York Civil Rights Law § 50, 51, occurred in this State and this District. FACTS RELEVANT TO ALL CLAIMS 7. Plaintiff’s career is centered in the City and State of New York. 8. Plaintiff is domiciled in the City and State of New York. 9. Plaintiff is represented by the model management company, Next Management, LLC, which is located in the City, State and County of New York. 10. Plaintiff is well known in and to the modeling industry. 11. Plaintiff’s image, identity and persona identity have been exposed and are known to the general public. 12. Plaintiff is a highly successful supermodel. 13. CABE is a top earning fashion and commercial model. 14. Plaintiff is internationally recognized and has been featured on at least 38 magazine covers, including Vogue in Brazil, China, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Paris, Russia and Turkey. 15. Examples of some of plaintiff’s modeling work, as published by her manager on nextmanagement.com, is annexed hereto at Exhibit “A.” 16. Plaintiff’s name and image have been included in publications, among others, such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, V, Rika, The Daily Front Row, and Elle Magazine. 2 Case 1:21-cv-06300 Document 1 Filed 07/24/21 Page 3 of 19 17. Plaintiff is known and recognized throughout the World including in the United States, China, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Paris, the United Kingdom, Russia, Korea, Switzerland and elsewhere. 18. Plaintiff has worked with top fashion brands including Chanel, Versace, Fendi, and Alberta Feretti, Guess, Carolina Herrera, Polo Ralph Lauren, among many others. 19. At the time of this writing, plaintiff is under an exclusive contract with Estee Lauder for makeup, skincare and fragrance products. 20. Estee Lauder is a Fortune 500 beauty brand. 21. Plaintiff has been associated with Estee Lauder at all relevant times herein. 22. Plaintiff has previously served as a spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret’s PINK label. 23. Plaintiff’s image and identity have been exposed to the general public on television via at least the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show for three consecutive years. 24. In 2019, Plaintiff became a Victoria’s Secret Angel. 25. Plaintiff has been associated with Victoria’s Secret at all relevant times herein. 26. Plaintiff has worked with some of the fashion industry’s top photographers, including without limitation, Steven Meisel and Karl Lagerfeld. 27. Plaintiff was previously featured on Models.com’s “Hot List”. 28. Plaintiff is currently ranked by Models.com as one of the “Top 50” models in the world. 29. Plaintiff is currently ranked by Models.com as one of the “Money Girls” under the “Contract Girls” category. 3 Case 1:21-cv-06300 Document 1 Filed 07/24/21 Page 4 of 19 30. Plaintiff has one of the top ranked Instagram accounts in the world among models of all time, coming in at #103 for widest social media reach, according to Models.com, with over 1,200,000 Instagram followers. 31. At the time of this writing, plaintiff has more Instagram followers than Kate, Moss, former REVLON models Christy Turlington and Iman Abdulmajid, and 2018 REVLON models Imaan Hammam and Adwoa Aboah. 32. Plaintiff is represented by Next Management in New York, Paris, Milan, London, Los Angeles, Miami, and is represented by MIKAs in Stockholm, Sweden. 33. The strength of Plaintiff’s image and persona is centered in New York, where plaintiff’s modeling career is centered. 34. Plaintiff has derived income from professional modeling. 35. Plaintiff’s career as a professional model is dependent on her name, reputation and physical appearance. 36. Plaintiff’s income is based upon her image, persona, face and physical attributes and how such image may serve to promote or advertise the sale of products or services. 37. Plaintiff has earned considerable sums in exchange for the use of her image, portrait, likeness or name in connection with the sale or promotion of products or services with which plaintiff has elected to associate herself with on terms and conditions agreeable to her. 38. Plaintiff’s image, portrait and likeness has been used in connection with the advertising and sale of products in the United States and internationally. 39. Plaintiff’s image has a proven value and selling power. 40. Plaintiff is a worldwide celebrity. 4 Case 1:21-cv-06300 Document 1 Filed 07/24/21 Page 5 of 19 41. Plaintiff has been the subject of articles in the worldwide media, in which her professional and personal life have been covered extensively. 42. Copies of some articles about plaintiff are annexed hereto at Exhibit “B.” 43. Upon information and belief, RI and RCPC appear to be inextricably intertwined such that it is difficult to tell which entity is acting and performing which actions at a given time and as such both are hereinafter referred to collectively and individually as “REVLON”. 44. REVLON is, according to its website revlonic.com, “a leading global beauty company with a portfolio of iconic brands that transform the lives of women and men around the world.” 45. According to revlonic.com, Revlon “manufactures and markets color cosmetics, hair color and care, skincare, beauty care and fragrances through a diverse portfolio of 15+ brands sold in more than 150 countries. 46. REVLON’s portfolio of brands includes “Revlon”, Elizabeth Arden, Almay, American Crew, CND, Cutex, SinfulColors, Mitchum, Britney Spears Fragrances, Christina Aguilera Fragrances, The Elizabeth Taylor Frangrance Collection, john varvatos, AllSaints, Juicy Couture, Alfred Sung, Charlie, Crème of Nature, Curve, D:fi, Ed Hardy, Eksperience, flesh, Gatineau, Giorgio Beverly Hills, Grey Flannel Geoffrey Beene, Halston, Intercosmo, Jean Nate, Jennifer Aniston, Lucky Brand, Mariah Carey, Natural Honey, Roflu Do, Pure Ice, WildFox. THE UNAUTHORIZED USES OF PLAINTIFF’S IMAGE 47. On April 13, 2020, REVLON published an image of Plaintiff to its Instagram page in order to promote, market and brand REVLON products, including without limitation, Revlon 5 Case 1:21-cv-06300 Document 1 Filed 07/24/21 Page 6 of 19 Skinlights Prismatic Bronzer (a copy of one of such uses is annexed at the end of Exhibits “C” and “D” hereto). 48. Upon information and belief, the uses of Plaintiff’s image by REVLON go well beyond the screen capture annexed within Exhibits “C” and “D” hereto. 49. On April 13, 2020, REVLON published an image of Plaintiff to its Facebook page in order to promote, market and brand REVLON products, including without limitation, Revlon Skinlights Pismatic Bronzer in various shades 50. Upon information and belief, REVLON’s publications of Plaintiff’s image and likeness on social media included links to purchase REVLON products. 51. Upon information and belief, REVLON published Plaintiff’s Image elsewhere in the World to promote, market and brand REVLON products, including without limitation Revlon SkinLights Prismatic Bronzer in various shades. 52. Upon information and belief, other publications by REVLON of Plaintiff’s image and likeness include links to purchase REVLON products. 53. Upon information and belief, REVLON’s publications of Plaintiff’s image and likeness further promoted REVLON products other than Revlon SkinLights Prismatic Bronzer. 54. Upon information and belief, REVLON made additional publications of plaintiff’s image to promote REVLON and its products on different dates, and on different and additional social media accounts. 55. REVLON’s uses of plaintiff’s image, likeness, persona and/or name falsely imply that plaintiff is wearing Revlon makeup. 56. The image of Plaintiff used by REVLON was originally created by photographer Michael Schwartz for a January 2017 editorial in Vogue Mexico. 6 Case 1:21-cv-06300 Document 1 Filed 07/24/21 Page 7 of 19 57. Upon information and belief, in the image of Plaintiff used by REVLON, plaintiff is not wearing the advertised “Revlon” brand products.