LOS ANGELES—After being embarrassed in June by the online publication of several images depicting him having condom-less, or “bareback,” gay sex with a former lover, Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) has sued the photo agency that distributed the pics.
Black filed suit against Starzlife in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit, filed July 23, alleges Starzlife obtained the images illegally and offered them for publication without Black’s permission, thereby violating his rights to privacy and self-promotion.
The court documents also refer to the other man in the photos as Jeff Delancy, whom Black had asked to delete from his personal files any photos of an explicit nature. Black indicated an explicit video may exist, as well. The lawsuit indicates all of the images were produced during a bedroom romp in November 2006.
Black’s suit seeks $3 million in damages in addition to any profits Starzlife may have realized from selling the photos. Furthermore, Black asks the court to enjoin Starzlife, Delancy and one Michael Lawrence, allegedly another of Delancy’s boyfriends, from distributing any explicit images of Black in the future.
According to the suit, Lawrence—who is named among the defendants—stole the photos from Delancy while the two were dating.
