Texas porn actress stole classmate's name

A Texan former porn star has been slapped with a lawsuit for "stealing" a former classmate's name as her "nom de sex", the Houston Chronicle reports.

Laura Madden, 25, "made a name for herself" in grumble flicks, the paper notes, but that name was in fact "Syvette Wimberly", which happens to be the title of a 25-year-old lass who shared a class with Madden at Kingwood High School.

According to the lawsuit, filed last month in Harris County against and Madden and Vivid Entertainment Group, Wimberly has suffered "humiliation, embarrassment, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, mental anguish and anxiety", and is accordingly seeking damages and a cease and desist on the use of her name.

Wimberly's attorney, Caj Boatright*, said his client came to him "because she was tired of getting phone calls and e-mails from friends and acquaintances asking about her new and unconventional career". He explained: "The purpose of the lawsuit is to get her to stop using this name. We're not out looking for millions of dollars. She felt disappointed and didn't understand why [Madden] would do this. She wondered why she wouldn't use Syvette and some other last name."

Madden's attorney, Kent Schaffer, insisted his client "did not choose the name to cause a problem for Wimberly or to get back at her for some old grievance, but simply because she liked the sound of it". He offered: "There is no bad blood between them. Laura never meant to harm this other girl. Anyone who knows [Wimberly] knows she is not the actress. Nobody thinks that the girl in the movies is the Syvette Wimberly who they grew up with in Kingwood."

Mark Kernes, legal editor for Adult Video News, predicted the legal action was doomed to failure, elaborating: "I don't ever remember hearing of a decision where a court said you can't use this name because it belongs to someone else. I don't think that would happen, though I admit this is somewhat of an unusual name."

In any case, Schaffer said Madden no longer indulges in video sex for money. "She has no connection to the adult entertainment business in any way, shape or form and has started her life over. She thought that was pretty much behind her. Then this lawsuit pops up," he clarified.

Schaffer concluded: "They'll never get a penny from her. She doesn't have any money, for one thing, but even if she did this suit will never hold up in court. I'm not aware of any court that has upheld such a lawsuit. If I use your name to defraud somebody, that's different. If I use it to obtain a loan or get a credit card, that's different.

"The real Syvette Wimberly is going to have more unwanted attention as a result of this lawsuit than she ever would have before. Now it's certainly local news, state news and maybe even in some places national news. This will be a boost for the film company. Other than that, everybody loses."

During her short-lived porn career, Madden, aka Wimberly, appeared in Irresistibly Delicious, Innocence and Dominance and other titles "inappropriate for mention in a family newspaper", as the Houston Chronicle puts it. ®

Bootnote

*We reckon Caj Boatright wouldn't make a bad porn moniker. Hmmm...