The trial court erred in denying defendant’s Anti-SLAPP motion to strike a complaint that alleged that defendant’s TV docu-drama misappropriated plaintiff’s right to publicity, violated Civ. Code 3344 and committed a false light invasion of privacy in depicting plaintiff by name but without her permission in ways that plaintiff objected to. The decision holds that the docu-drama was entitled to First Amendment protection whether or not it tried to depict plaintiff, a celebrity movie star, accurately. Also, it is not a misappropriation to use a star’s personality in a historical or fiction work such as the docu-drama. And to state a claim of false light privacy invasion, plaintiff would have to show that the depiction of her was highly offensive to a normal reasonable viewer. She couldn’t satisfy that test in this case.
California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 3 (Egerton, J.); March 26, 2018; 230 Cal. Rptr. 3d 625