Celebrities Sandra Bullock and Ellen DeGeneres have filed a lawsuit together over fake beauty ads.
Bullock and DeGeneres filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior court, according to a report published by the New York Times. The pair is suing over their name and likeness being used to falsely endorse and sell products.
Scammers often use the names of celebrities to sell makeup and other products online, and it’s hard to know who is behind them.
Now two big celebrities are filing a lawsuit for “the unauthorized use of their names and likenesses.”https://t.co/Da4rW2iGno
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) November 7, 2019
“The celebrity endorsement-theft business model 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,” the lawsuit read.
The ads “typically include unsubstantiated claims that the products will lead to dramatic results,” the complaint continued. (RELATED: Ellen DeGeneres Says She Was Sexually Assaulted By Her Stepfather In Her Teenage Years)
Actresses over 40 are usually targeted by the schemes, the NYTimes reported, due to the public’s tendency to trust them.
“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 complaint read.
By filing the lawsuit, DeGeneres’ and Bullock’s lawyers can now issue subpoenas to the companies to uncover who is behind the false ads.