Girl Goes Wild, Then Sues

JULY 2--In May 1999, Michelle Padilla, her boyfriend, and their cronies headed for some R&R at California's Lake Havasu, one of the West's leading spring break/party havens.

One afternoon, while Padilla--then a 23-year-old single mom--was chilling on the deck of a boat, she was greeted with the standard exhortation to, you know, "SHOW US YOUR T***." Padilla, understandably, responded by pulling down the top of her blue bikini and flashing the appreciative crowd.

What she didn't know at the time was that her act was being filmed by a "Girls Gone Wild" crew.

As a result, Padilla's breast flash has been included in a "Girls Gone Wild" video and DVD, and she can be seen on the firm's web site and in its pop-up advertising (in the photo of the DVD cover at left, Padilla can be seen with the words "All Real" superimposed on her chest).

In a federal lawsuit filed last week--an excerpt of which you'll find here--Padilla charges that the "Girls Gone Wild" gang has invaded her privacy and, as a result, she is seeking an injunction barring further sale or distribution of the offending video and DVD.

Lisa Cervantes, Padilla's lawyer, told TSG that her client is "not in the habit of doing things like that." She added that Padilla, now 27, has since married and is the stepmother of her husband's two sons, ages 14 and 11. The boys, Cervantes said, have heard "rumors" at school about their stepmom's "Girls Gone Wild" appearance. (5 pages)