Models sue Philly nightclub over sexy photos

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Ten models sue Tierra Colombiana’s Philadelphia nightclub for sexy photos

Claudia Sampedro has never been to the popular Latin nightclub Tierra Colombiana restaurant in Philadelphia. The Cuban-born professional model now lives in Miami with her husband, former NFL star Julius Peppers, and their children. And it’s fair to say she was completely unaware the nightclub was using sexy images of her in social media adverts.

But Sampedro is not the only one. She and nine other professional models now allege, in a just-filed federal lawsuit, that the Tierra Colombiana nightclub regularly and routinely swiped photos of them and used those photos in advertisements for its dance evenings and other events. You can see some of these ads in the collage above.

Other models include: Dessie Pilek, aka Dessie Mitcheson, who has worked for brands as varied as Playboy Intimates and Crest and has previously won the award Maxim “Hometown Hotties” competition; Jamillette Gaxiola, former Miss Cuba who has worked for Reebok, Saks and MAC Cosmetics and is now a UFC on-air personality; Janet Guzman, whom the lawsuit describes as a “social media star” who has more than two million followers on Instagram; lingerie and swimwear model Lina Posada; Colombian-born model Paola Caña, who appeared on the cover of Playboy Mexico; Rachel Mortenson, who appeared on the cover of two Playboy the same year and is a flagship model for Guess Jeans; ballet dancer turned model Rosa Acosta; Stephanie Rao, Los Angeles-based influencer/model; and runway and billboard model Tiffany Keller.

In any case, the lawsuit claims, Tierra Colombiana used photos of the model to promote the nightclub’s brand, without the models’ permission.

“Defendants knowingly, and without the prior consent of any of the plaintiffs, violated the privacy of the plaintiffs by using the images of the plaintiffs for commercial purposes in order to promote the image of Tierra by and through various marketing materials and promotion, including…Tierra’s website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram,” the suit reads. “Defendants presented Plaintiffs’ images…to create the false impression that Plaintiffs worked at, endorsed, promoted, or sponsored Tierra…”

The suit accuses Tierra Colombiana of false association, violation of women’s right to privacy, false advertising, unauthorized use of name or likeness and defamation, among other offenses. (If you’re wondering about this defamation claim, the women argue that the club is falsely implying that they work for or support the nightclub and that this is harming their reputation with potential customers.)

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and asks the court to issue an order barring the club from using their photos. Some models have filed similar lawsuits elsewhere in the country.

Representatives for Tierra Colombiana did not respond to a request for comment.

On murder suspect Luigi Mangione, CEO of United HealthCare…

I don’t know why, but I just knew deep in my soul, shortly after last week’s brazen murder of the CEO of United HealthCare, this case was somehow going to find its way into Philadelphia. And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.

As you probably already know, police arrested Luigi Mangione in Altoona on Monday. And “Luigi Mangione” quickly became the most Googled term of the day.

And if you had done that research, as we did, you would have immediately learned that he went to Penn. (THE Daily Pennsylvanian wants your advice on his time at the Ivy.) Looks like he also ended up in Philly after the murder for a brief period of time.

Independence Blue Cross Unveils Executive Bios, Photos After Murder of United HealthCare CEO

It’s no secret that people aren’t big fans of insurance companies. But I didn’t realize how much hatred and vitriol there was until people started cheering the murder of United HealthCare’s CEO. I read the other day that some insurance companies are deleting their executives’ photos and biographies from their websites, which doesn’t seem like such a stupid thing to do. When I checked this weekend, Independence Blue Cross, headquartered in Philadelphia, had not touched that part of its website. But between then and today, they deleted the entire page.

By the numbers

6221: Street number on Osage Avenue of the house where the MOVE bombing took place in 1985. And now MOVE wants to take possession of the property in order to erect a memorial.

15: Number of new DiBruno Bros. stores which could be in the future of the company. You can thank Jeff Brown. Yes, that guy who showed up poorly at town hall.

12: Number of weed stores now in Atlantic City, where they now outnumber casinos.

Local talent

Congratulations to local Hollywood talents Quinta Brunson and Colman Domingo on their Golden Globe nominations! Brunson’s nomination is for best actress in a television comedy, Domingo’s for her performance in Sing Sing. Brunson can also take credit for Abbott Elementary Schoolthe nomination for best television comedy, since the series is his original idea.