‘Jeopardy!’ host sues dozens of groups over false CBD endorsement ads in Florida court
This co-star of “Beaches” and part-time “Jeopardy!” host is fed-up with dozens of mysterious websites and online marketers that have been using her name and image to suggest she’s marketing a line of their CBD products.
Who is Mayim Bialik?
The “Big Bang Theory” actress and TV personality filed suit in Florida federal court on Thursday seeking damages against 32 unnamed companies, many foreign-based in the Dominican Republic, France or India. The 27-page suit, first reported by Law 360, lists the IP addresses for the companies because they are all operating under false names such as “Mayim Bialik CBD Gummies,” “Mayim Bialik Smilz” or “Mayim Bialik CBD Gummies USA.”
Bialik, 46, who earned her doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA in 2000, says in her false advertising suit that these companies have been “engaging in the unauthorized use of Mayim Bialik’s name, likeness, and/or persona within this district, and throughout the United States, through various affiliate marketing campaigns and e-commerce websites.
“The entire purpose of the Defendants’ wrongful activities is to create the false impression that Bialik is affiliated with and endorses certain cannabidiol products (the “Unauthorized CBD Products”) which she does not,” the suit says.
BIALIK DENOUNCES ADS IN INSTAGRAM POST
In March, Bialik took to her Instagram account to address fans over what she and others see as clickbait ads.
”There are many untrue things floating around the internet about many public figures, but I want to address one about me that looks very authentic but is indeed a hoax. I am not selling CBD Gummies of any kind and do not plan to do so at any point in the future. I have tried to get this removed to no avail. It’s not real,” she posted.
Bialik, who was born in San Diego, and her Fort Lauderdale-based attorneys, led by Stephen Michael Gaffigan, chose to file in a Florida court because a “substantial part of the events or omissions are occurring in this district” and the companies are unlawfully advertising and selling these “falsely endorsed products” in Florida, their suit says.
Bialik seeks injunctive relief, profits, punitive damages, attorney fees and litigation costs. She also wants all search engines to permanently delist or deindex the URLs used by these companies using her name and likeness and persona to promote, advertise and market the Unauthorized CBD Products.
SACHA BARON COHEN, EASTWOOD ALSO SUE
According to MJ Biz Daily, it can be difficult for celebrity lawsuits against unknown foreign marketers to win monetary damages, “but they can prompt a court order that allows celebrities to force online search engines or social media sites to remove false endorsement posts.”
In May, actor Sacha Baron Cohen settled and dismissed an $11.5 million copyright infringement and false advertising suit he filed against a cannabis company that he said illegally used an image of his “Borat” character in a billboard ad for their product in Massachusetts. The ad was pulled three days after the company received a cease-and-desist letter from the actor, Growth Op reported.
In 2021, Clint Eastwood won $6.1 million in a suit he filed against a firm that claimed the “Dirty Harry” actor endorsed CBD products,” Hemp Industry Daily reported.