Actress goes after makers of post-partum compression garment for illegally using her name

Oct 12, 2011 19:41 GMT  ·  By
Jessica Alba takes Belly Bandit to court for claiming she used their product to lose weight after pregnancy
   Jessica Alba takes Belly Bandit to court for claiming she used their product to lose weight after pregnancy

Belly Bandit claims to be the “first-ever post-partum compression garment” and it also says that Jessica Alba used one such garment to get back in shape after her first pregnancy. The actress is now suing over it.

TMZ reports that Alba has filed papers against the makers of the Belly Bandit for using her name and likeness to sell the product, under the false claim that she used it to get back to her pre-pregnancy figure.

Since that didn’t happen, Alba is asking for damages because her name has been used to deceive people – and she’s asking for a lot of money.

The aforementioned e-zine says Jessica is asking for over for $1 million (€726,375) for the use of her name, and a share of the profits Belly Bandit made by using her as an official spokesperson, which she was not.

“Jessica Alba is suing the company behind a popular weight loss device for women who’ve had babies – claiming her name and likeness was used, without permission, to push sales of something called a Belly Bandit,” TMZ writes.

“In the lawsuit, Jessica says the company has ‘prominently featured and posted a photograph of Alba, and listed her name under the Celebrity Testimonials section of their Website’,” the report further notes.

Proof that her claim is substantiated is the fact that the company has since removed Alba’s picture from said section.

“According to the suit, Belly Bandit’s packaging even features an endorsement that says, ‘Jessica Alba’s #2 Secret for a Fast Post Pregnancy Slimdown!’” TMZ further writes.

Alba is not the only celebrity to be namedropped by Belly Bandit: there’s actually a very long list of stars in the Celebrity Testimonials section, from Kourtney Kardashian to Pink, Jewel and Brooke Mueller – and even Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Garner.

No word yet whether any of these other celebrities signed a deal with Belly Bandit to have the product advertised by using their names.