PENSACOLA, Fla. – A Florida federal district court has issued a closure in two lawsuits brought against Girl Gone Wild founder Joe Francis and his production company, Mantra Films.
According to a press release from Mantra Films, Heather Marie Kotis, Rachel Christine Mill, Julie Tilton, Nicole Breitfeller and Tabitha Gautreaux alleged that the production company filmed them during a spring break wet T-shirt contest at a Florida hotel pool in 2001, and then distributed the images without their consent.
The company maintained that any footage they have used has been under the consent of the participants. The women did not indentify which Girls Gone Wild video contained their images.
“This is yet another example of people trying to make money by bringing false and frivolous charges against Girls Gone Wild and me,” Francis said in the release.
This comes in the wake of another lawsuits filed by two women against Francis and Mantra Films in June, claiming that footage of them appeared on two Girls Gone Wild DVDs without their consent. The women dropped their suits when video evidence surfaced, clearly showing both girls giving permission to use the footage.
“It's apparent that a certain segment of our society has adopted a get rich quick scheme through frivolous litigation,” Francis's attorney, David R. Houston, said in the press release. “We are pleased the court in this matter refused to issue the plaintiffs a golden ticket based upon plaintiff's actions and misrepresentations.”
Francis is currently being held in a Nevada County Jail awaiting charges of tax evasion.
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