PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A popular Philly nightclub is facing a federal lawsuit after 10 models say the venue used images of them for promotion without their permission.
Trilogy, a longtime club and hookah lounge at Sixth and Spring Garden streets, is being charged in the lawsuit of false association, false advertising and defamation for using images of the models in social media posts promoting special nights at the venue.
The models say they were never contacted or hired by Trilogy for promotional purposes, and that by using their images, damage was done to their reputations and careers.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, says the promotions using the models’ images date to 2015.
Some examples highlighted in the lawsuit include a 2017 Instagram post promoting a Halloween party at the club, which shows Playboy Playmate Jessa Hinton sporting Catwoman and Captain America costumes. Another post from this February uses Fashion Nova model Janet Guzman for an Afrobeats night advertisement.
Both Guzman and Hinton have well over 1 million followers across all their social media platforms, as do most of the 10 women involved in the lawsuit.
The suit asks that whatever penalty Trilogy could pay be determined at trial.
KYW reached out to Trilogy for comment but has not heard back.