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Ex-Lingerie Model Sues Websites for Spoiling Shot at Law School

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on July 13, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A former lingerie model's lawsuit claims Internet lies have ruined her reputation and "jeopardized" her shot at going to law school. Is that really worth $3 million, as Shana Edme's suit claims?

Edme, of Georgia, is "an aspiring law student" who works at "a large law firm" on Long Island, N.Y., according to the suit obtained by Courthouse News Service.

But the unauthorized publication of some of Edme's racy modeling photos resulted in an invasion of privacy and unwanted attention from a bunch of creeps, her suit states. (Isn't that likely to continue if she continues toward a job as an attorney? But we digress.)

Shana Edme's lingerie modeling pics, taken in 2008, showed up on a website without her permission last summer. The caption read, "WOWZERS!! We got pics of Kimora Lee Simmons' younger sister ... in lingerie!! (Looks like Kimmy ... only thick)..."

Kimora Lee Simmons, if you don't know, is the ex-wife of hip hop mogul Russell Simmons. The former Mrs. Simmons is in no way related to Shana Edme, and took to the Internet to say so.

"That Lil Trashy Lingerie Wearing Heffa Is NOT My Sister," one gossip website blared while republishing Edme's lingerie photos, again without her permission. (The "lil trashy heffa" comment appears to have been the website's words, not Simmons'.)

As a result, Shana Edme "endured receiving numerous communications from men nationwide," and hundreds of "derogatory and sexual" comments were posted about her online.

Edme's future law-school plans "have been placed in jeopardy," her lawsuit alleges, though it does not explain how. (Perhaps she's concerned about admissions officers seeing her pics -- though they likely won't care, as Above the Law's Elie Mystal opined.)

Shana Edme's lingerie lawsuit seeks $3 million from three websites for emotional distress, humiliation, and punitive damages under New York's "right of privacy" law. If she wins, her legal fight could be a model for others; if not, at least she'll already have her first losing lawsuit under her garter belt.

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