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Anti-Abortion Billboard Sparks Lawsuit From Girl Model's Mom
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 27, 2011
Modified Apr 27, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 27, 2011
Modified Apr 27, 2011
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Remember that anti-abortion billboard that briefly appeared in SoHo in February, the one that featured a photo of a black girl with the copy, "The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb."? If so, you may also recall that the girl's mother had no idea her daughter was being used for the ad campaign, which also popped up in Jacksonville, Florida. The group that paid for it, Life Always, bought the rights to the photo from a stock photography company, and the mom, Tricia Fraser, signed a release allowing her daughter's likeness to be used for a range of ads, but she says this sort of thing wasn't part of the deal. Now, obviously, she's suing.
""This isn't at all what the family signed up for," lawyer Andrew Celli tells the Daily News "This was a modeling shoot that they were told was a family album-style presentation. The mom did sign a release, but the release was very clear that the image was not to be used in a way that would defame her daughter or hold her up to ridicule in public." After realizing that was her daughter on the billboard, Fraser said, "I would never endorse something like that. Especially with my child's image. It's bad enough you're saying this about African Americans, but then you put a child with an innocent face. I just want the image off of it."
Life Always has not commented on the lawsuit. The ad was removed by Lamar Advertising, which owns the billboard space, after several days of heated controversy; at the time, a Lamar spokesman insisted they took it down because "there were concerns about problems for people who live or work in the area." Typical advertising execs, always so concerned about everyone's safety.
Tagged
abortion billboard
anti-abortion
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life always
photograph
stock photo
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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