Former model sues Universal over 'x-rated prop' outrage

A Russian former model is suing Universal Pictures for allowing actor Jon Favreau to crack one off to a picture of her in a bikini in the film Couples Retreat.

According to the New York Daily News, Irina Krupnik got a bit of shock when she found out a 2001 snap of her taken when she was 21 had resurfaced as "an X-rated prop" in the movie.

She quit modelling seven years ago to forge a successful career as a makeup artist, and the snap languished in stock photo agencies until Universal got a copy for Favreau's "very private moment".

Krupnik's clients alerted to her to the outrage, and the "mad as hell" litigant wasted no time in unleashing lawyer Thomas Mullaney, who thundered: "The image of an older married man pleasuring himself to the picture of someone who was closer to the age of a child is disgusting. It was a swimsuit ad, not pornography."

He further fulminated: "These were pictures she took nearly 10 years ago. In no way at all did she even remotely expect them to turn up in some raunchy movie scene. At the very least, common decency means you should ask somebody before you put them into a scene that's essentially pornography."

For tarnishing Krupnik's "wholesome image" and violating her privacy, the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court suggests NBC Universal and Universal Pictures should cough $10m.

To stress just how serious the matter is, Mullaney insisted: "If you're a good-looking young woman, you don't want anyone leering at you or fondling you. If someone did in Central Park what they showed in Couples Retreat, they would be thrown in jail."

Couples Retreat, which also features Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell, and revolves around "stressed-out couples escaping to a tropical paradise where they encounter ex-loves and a lusty yoga instructor", was not well received by critics, the NY Daily News notes. ®