The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, zeroed in on the magazine’s “Hot Stuff” section, which published a piece under the headline “Brit & Kev: Secret Sex Tape? New parents have a new worry: racy footage from 2004.”
The article claimed Spears and Federline were worried about a former member of their entourage releasing a steamy sex tape, which they reviewed with their estate planning lawyers.
The suit seeks $10 million in libel damages and $10 million for misappropriating Spears’ name and image to promote sales of the weekly magazine. It also asks for unspecified punitive damages.
The US Weekly article said that Spears had given the tape to lawyers on Sept. 30, and that she and Federline were “acting goofy the whole time” while watching it.
“There was no laughter, disgust or goofy behavior while watching the video in the company of lawyers because they did not watch any video, and because there is no such video,” the lawsuit said.
The suit also said that Spears opted for litigation after publishers nixed her request for a retraction, saying they stood by the story. “US Weekly has a credible source, and we stand by our reporting,” a spokeswoman told the Associated Press.
Spears and Federline have hired Martin Dori Singer of Los Angeles-based Lavely & Singer, one of Hollywood’s most prominent firms.
Lavely & Singer’s client roster includes President Clinton, Gov. Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Aniston, Celine Dion, Roseanne and Jim Carrey.
The law firm, located in the Century City section of Los Angeles, also has represented a slew of celebrities involved in sex tape scandals, including Catherine Diaz, Colin Farrell, Paris Hilton, Rick Salomon and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Calls by XBiz to Singer were unreturned Tuesday, but the litigator told website TMZ.com, which first reported news of the suit, that “Britney has finally decided to take a stand to put a stop to people fabricating these malicious lies about her.”
