Shoshana Roberts, the aspiring actress made famous for her viral New York City catcalling video, is now suing the makers for more than $671,000.
The 24-year-old filed documents Tuesday against Rob Bliss, the director and her boyfriend at the time, and the anti-street harassment group Hollaback! for broadcasting the clips of her and using them to promote their agenda without her
signed permission, according to Yahoo New Zealand.
Co-defendants Google, YouTube, and T.G.I. Friday’s are also listed for creating parodies of the video.
According to the New York Daily News, the lawsuit claims defendants made money from her “creative content, performance, image, likeness, and persona for the purposes of advertising or trade without her prior written consent.”
Roberts reportedly received $200 for the video, but did not have a written agreement with Bliss.
Previously, Roberts has mentioned how the viral video caused her to receive death and
rape threats, The Village Voice reported.
“It's frustrating when the nonprofit gets donations, and the director gets ad revenue, and I get people wanting to slit my throat,” she said.
The director would not say if Roberts had been paid for doing the video, but he has said he does not believe she received all that she was promised, according to Yahoo. Bliss did not go into any more specifics.
The “Ten Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman video” comes from secret camera footage of Roberts walking around the streets of Manhattan for 10 hours. She was allegedly catcalled more than 100 times. The clip garnered more than 40 million views on YouTube last fall.
“I'm harassed when I smile, and I'm harassed when I don't. I'm harassed by white men, black men, Latino men,” Roberts said at the time, according to Yahoo. “Not a day goes by when I don't experience this.”
Bliss filmed Roberts by walking ahead of her with a camera in his pocket.
Bliss said, according to Yahoo, he wanted to show men “what street harassment looks like in plain broad daylight, how it makes people feel and leave it out there.”
Bliss did not respond to the Daily News, and Hollaback! co-founder and executive director Emily May said the group had not yet received court papers and did not have further information about the allegations.