By Ruth Manuel-Logan
Supermodel-turned-talk-show-maven Tyra Banks is probably not feeling very chatty these days, especially since she is being sued for $3 million by an irate Mother, who says Banks featured her child on a TV segment about teen sex addicts without her consent.
Beverly McClendon filed her lawsuit with an Atlanta federal court last week, when she discovered that her daughter (Jewel Ciera Washington) appeared on Tyra’s show without her knowledge. Not only was Washington flown solo to New York City, where the Tyra show is taped, the 15-year-old was also picked up in a limo from the airport and put up in a hotel. The minor was then paid for her appearance on the teen sex addicts segment.
Washington answered an open call a year ago on the “Tyra” show website for teen sex addicts. She was contacted a month later via cell phone and arrangements were made allegedly without ever attempting to reach the girl’s parents for consent.
In the complaint, the angry Mom argues that her child has suffered damages because, “this 2009 show was undoubtedly watched by sexual deviants, perverts and pedophiles alike.”
The Georgia Mom also states that she filed a missing persons report with police upon learning that her child was gone. And to top it all off, McClendon claims that her child has never been psychologically diagnosed as having a sexual addiction.
The lawsuit also names Warner Bros. Entertainment and the executive producers of the show as defendants.
A jury trial is being sought as well as $1 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages. McClendon is also requesting that the controversial segment where Washington appeared never air again either on television or online.
Warner Bros. Television Group spokesman Scott Rowe told the Associated Press on Sunday that the company had no comment, while Tyra’s camp has not made any public statements regarding the impending lawsuit.
