Jennifer Aniston Sues Over Topless Photo

Jennifer Aniston will appear in a Los Angeles federal court this week to testify against magazine publishers who ran a topless picture of her. The Friends star was snapped while sunbathing sans her top in her backyard. She claims the photographer trespassed on her neighbor’s lawn and climbed an eight-foot wall in February of 1999 to get the shot. She is suing Man’s World Publications Inc. and Crescent Publishing Group, who publish Celebrity Skin and High Society’s magazines, for an undisclosed amount. The picture has appeared in the magazines published by the two groups as well as in some European publications.

Aniston will have to prove that the magazine publishers "profited from her likeness without consent." Defense lawyer, Kent Raygor, said the pictures first were shown overseas and his clients cannot be blamed for re-running them in the United States. He was quoted as saying, "Man’s World and Crescent had nothing to do with the taking of that photograph." Neither Aniston nor her lawyer, Jay Lavely, could be reached for comment.

When Aniston's husband, Brad Pitt, faced a similar incident five years ago he used Lavely. Pitt was photographed naked in the Caribbean while "cavorting" with then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow on the balcony of their hotel room. An L.A. County Superior Court judge ordered Playgirl magazine to recall the edition that featured Pitt. All copies sold out before they could be recalled.