Jessica Simpson is reportedly being sued for partaking in a baby picture conspiracy with OK! Magazine and Getty Images.
Jessica Simpson, 32, is being sued for allegedly posing with a Louisiana couple’s infant and passing off the child as her own on the cover of the celebrity weekly magazine.
According to the suit, originally reported by The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Jessica Simpson was involved in the plot to make more money after she had already signed a six-figure deal with another publication for the rights to the first pictures of her actual child.
Christopher Hurst and Tracy Gregory took their teenage daughter and infant son to the Dillard’s department store in Metairie on October 2011 to meet Jessica Simpson, who was promoting her clothing line, according to the lawsuit.
As they were standing in line to get the star’s autograph, Christopher Hurst alleges a stranger suggested he allow Jessica Simpson – who was pregnant with her first child at the time – to hold the infant.
Christopher Hurst agreed, but when he handed his son to Jessica Simpson, “at least one previously unseen photographer hurriedly moved to the front of the line and began taking pictures of the child”, alleges the suit.
The couple were taken aback when months later OK! Magazine published the picture of Jessica Simpson with their child on the cover of its April 16, 2012 issue.
The headline read, My First Days as a New Mom, giving the impression that it was Jessica Simpson’s baby.
The lawsuit claims another publication had paid Jessica Simpson $800,000 to publish her first baby picture, but that she and OK! devised the plan to pass off another baby as her own in order to make more money.
The infant’s parents claim they were never offered and therefore never signed a release form allowing their son’s photo to be used.
The couple are suing Jessica Simpson, OK! Magazine, and Getty Images – who had the photos for sale or licensing on its website until March – for damages in excess of $75,000.
“What happened in this situation was wrong,” said Michael North, the couple’s attorney.
“It’s not something that ever should happen. Our immediate aim is to find out how it happened and why it happened and determine who is responsible.”
