lawsuits

Dustin Lance Black’s Lawyers Are Here to Recruit a Bareback Settlement Agreement

dustin-lance-black

Remember when photos of Dustin Lance Black engaged in adult recreative activities leaked in June? And he was not happy about it? And his lawyers were furious too? Now they are doing something about it. Namely: A lawsuit!

The Oscar-winning screenwriter’s henchmen at Lavely & Singer — the bulldog law firm behind seemingly every celeb’s sex tape lawsuit threats — are going after Starzlife.com and its proprietors, which the lawsuit alleges distributed photos (and supposedly has video) of Black and a one Jeff Delancy having anal sex (without a condom, as everyone has noted!). Something about invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.

But Black doesn’t fancy himself some Paris Hilton, or even a Kim Kardashian. He is a serious, Academy Award-y professional, and these photos are disparaging. Which, they totally are. Particularly to his reputation!

But parts of Black’s lawsuit, filed July 23, are pretty ridiculous. Like the part where he denies even knowing illicit pictures were being taken while they were having sex — because, if you’ve seen the pics, it’s clear he knew there was a camera (but claims not to have known it was aimed “down there”). Unless a certain screenwriter was not in a, uh, proper state of mind? Whatever. Black’s lawyers have to say these things.

lanceblackcomplain1

So what is Team Black even after? A few things. Namely, Starzlife.com and its staff — as well as Michael Lawrence, who the lawsuit claims stole the photos from Delancy’s computer while they were dating — cannot ever distribute the material again. Any profits they made must be turned over to Black. And he’d like $3 million, please. The court filing says Black wants a jury trial, though we doubt this is headed in that direction. A settlement is most likely, for a mostly paltry sum, and the promise to never mention Black’s name again, if only because Starzlife’s proprietors supposedly met (unknowingly) with Black’s own private investigators to discuss a sale. That’d be some pretty damning evidence to hear in open court.

In the end, we learn: Delancey (and/or his ex-boyfriend) is pretty douche-y if he released the photos, especially to earn a profit; the folks behind Starzlife.com will probably have to argue their way into heaven, but hell, so will we; and most importantly: NEVER TAKE PHOTOS OF YOURSELF NAKED OR HAVING SEX, EVER, BECAUSE THEY WILL BE RELEASED. For as wise and talented as Black may be, naivety (about not knowing where the camera was pointing) is not a good excuse.

Not that we should have to excuse anyone from the crime of having sex while being attractive and sharing it with the world.

The full lawsuit filing on the next page:

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated