'Jersey Shore' Star Snooki Sued for $7 Million
Pint-sized Jersey Shore superstar Snooki has been hit with a $7 million lawsuit by licensing company SRG Ventures.
Snooki, whose real name is Nicole Polizzi, partnered with SRG to launch a number of Snooki-inspired merchandise in 2010. In October 2011, she filed a $7 million lawsuit to end her contract with the company on the grounds that it hadn’t fulfilled obligations to afford her a significant amount of money or branding partnerships.
Now, SRG has filed a $7 million countersuit against Snooki and her management company, Neon Entertainment. The suit claims that it was Snooki who wrecked the deal by negotiating with brands without SRG’s knowledge, ruining deals made by SRG such as Snooki-themed school supplies, swimwear, sunglasses, watches, shoes and lingerie.
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According to The New York Post, Snooki’s representative said, “Ms. Polizzi disputes SRG’s version of the facts and looks forward to her day in court.”
Mike Sorrentino, better known as “The Situation” of Jersey Shore, has also recently filed a lawsuit worth $4 million against Abercrombie and Fitch. He claims the clothing brand used his name and popularity illegally to sell clothes without providing him any royalties.
Abercrombie and Fitch maintains that they did not use Sorrentino’s name to sell products, but instead asked the reality television star not to showcase their brand so their consumers would not associate their clothing with him or “Jersey Shore.”
The show “Jersey Shore” premiered in 2009, starring eight self-proclaimed “guidos” in a summer home in the Garden State.
Many Italian-American groups and New Jersey Shore tourism officials have spoken out against the overtly sexual behavior and culturally offensive language on the show.
Daniel Cappello, the executive director of the Jersey Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau, said, "The program certainly depicts the Jersey Shore as a culturally vapid place and doesn't make it appealing to anyone outside the demographic [MTV] is showing," to ABC News when the show first aired.
